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All dressed up but no school wants to take her By : Kamachy Habimanan
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/20070510075511/Article/index_html
JOHOR BARU: K. Raghathiswary diligently puts on her blue-and-white school pinafore every morning, but she does not get to go to school.
This is because no school will accept her.
The cause is her birth certificate which does not carry the name of her father, R. Kanagasundram, 30.
“It is tough trying to console her every day when she wakes up and gets dressed in her school uniform.
“Whenever the schoolbus stops in front of our neighbours’ homes and fetches their children, my daughter will start crying.” Kanagasundram said she was denied admission by schools in Johor Baru early this year as she did not have a birth certificate.
“I could not apply for my daughter’s birth certificate because my marriage was not registered. Moreover, my wife left us the day she gave birth to Raghathiswary.”
When his daughter could not get into a school, Kanagasundram took all the supporting documents and applied for a birth certificate.
However, when he received his daughter’s birth certificate, it did not carry his name as the father.
“I have been Raghathiswary’s guardian and I applied for her birth certificate but it does not carry my name as the father.
“The column which is supposed to carry my name says no information available.
“When I questioned the National Registration Department about this, they failed to give a proper explanation.”
He then tried to enrol Raghathiswary in a Tamil school in Johor Baru, but to no avail.
“I tried to enrol her in other schools in Johor Baru and my sister tried to do so in Perak, but no school wants to accept her.
“I hope someone can help my daughter. I don’t want her to be an illiterate.”
Johor Education Department director Mokhy Saidon promised to look into the matter.
“If it is just an issue over a birth certificate, there should not be any problem for Raghathiswary to get a place in school.”
