Posts Tagged ‘Education’

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MCA suggests Merit and Income criteria only for JPA scholarships

February 20th, 2009
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I’m quite surprised that not many people talked about the article below. Before this there was a big uproar by certain quarters when the scholarship ratio was fixed at 55:45 for Malay: non-Malay. Now, MCA had talks with JPA, resulting in a victory for MCA:

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan has agreed that the Public Service Department scholarship should be awarded based only on merit and household income, after discussions with MCA leaders and community heads.

MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said consensus was reached at a recent meeting and that the idea would be brought to the Cabinet for further discussion.

The other leaders involved in the move were from the Indian and Sabah and Sarawak ethnic communities.

“The consensus reached also included the fact that students who qualify for the scholarships will be eligible not only for overseas study but also for local universities.”

The proposed criteria to select students based on good results and low household income ought to be strictly adhered to, Ong said at the Serdang MCA Chinese New Year open house last night which was attended by top MCA leaders such as secretary-general Datuk Wong Foon Meng, vice-presidents Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, and Youth chief Datuk Wee Ka Siong.

Perhaps things will get heated up when the proposal is brought to the cabinet for approval.

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MIEd to sue 4000 borrowers

February 13th, 2009
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MIED is getting tough since its not being able to get the borrowers to pay back. I remember few years back, MARA took some drastic measures like publishing the defaulters name, asking to be blacklisted so that cannot leave the country, sending lawyer notice etc. MIC may have to do the same as well in MIED’s case.

9000/12,500 is a mindblowing 72% default rate!

RM90 million / 9000 students is averaging RM10,000 per student.

ABOUT 4,000 students who have failed to repay their loans to MIED, theducational arm of the MIC, will be blacklisted and taken to court, reported Tamil Nesan.

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said that the MIED had given educational loans to 12,500 students since 1984 and about 9,000 had failed to repay their loans which amounted to RM90mil.

He said MIED decided recently that in future, students would only be given a maximum of RM40,000 for the first year and for the subsequent years, it would depend on their educational grades.

He said MIED also decided that parents should start repaying the loans after six months even when their children were studying and need not wait till they completed their studies.

However, the part where parents have to start repayment after 6 months of loan disbursement is a bit hard since some of the borrowers may be from low income families.

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SJKT Ladang Acob suffers from pollution

February 12th, 2009
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From the Star:

PUPILS and teachers from Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil Ladang Acob in Kapar are frequently distracted due to the dust and noise pollution.

Heavy vehicles transporting oil palm out of the estate pass the school and cause noise and dust pollution.

The 170 pupils and 15 teachers are also exposed to the stench from the garbage trucks that use Jalan Acob en route to a dumpsite in Bukit Kerayong.

The school’s Parent-Teacher Association chairman S. Sooriyan said the school also experienced vibrations due to the heavy vehicles plying the inner road and Jalan Acob.

He said the school was located in an awkward position as it was between Jalan Acob and the road that led to the estate.

“We have excavators and trucks passing in front of the school’s entrance while the garbage trucks go along Jalan Acob which is situated by the side of the school,” he said

Sooriyan said the situation was affecting the concentration of both the teachers and the pupils.

He said the furniture including tables and chairs in the classrooms were always dusty.

“The environment is not good but we have no choice as this is the only Tamil school in the area,

“We hope something can be done soon to improve the situation or else the school should be relocated to a new site,” he said

Sooriyan added that the school was one of the oldest Tamil schools in Selangor as it was more than 80 years old.

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retracted increment?

February 11th, 2009
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Heard some unusual news today that can turn you black. A prominent private university in Selangor today asked all its staff who were confirmed in their positions and those that received yearly salary increments recently to return the confirmation/salary increment letter issued in January. Reason? the black and white was not signed by the correct person!

My immediate thoughts are… gee,wouldn’t it be easier to issue another letter with the correct signature and inform that the earlier one is null and void? Hmm..maybe I’m not that creative nor technology savvy enough.

Obviously the staff are incensed. Probably they are left wondering if there would be no increment this year. I guess some of their hearts would have turned black as well.

Bolehland.

p.s: don’t ask me which uni it is.

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Book on plight of Tamil schools launched

February 9th, 2009
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There were emails flying around on the book written by M.Varatharajoo. He launched the book recently. I wonder if the contents are not so true, as some quarters claim that Tamil schools are doing well and are well taken care off. Perhaps those quarters can sue the author?

ALL PRIMARY school pupils should learn their mother tongue first before they move on to their secondary school education, Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud said.

“Learning your mother tongue is a basic right of every citizen.

“Most Indians and Chinese in Malaysia have always emphasised the importance of learning one’s mother tongue hence the mushrooming of many vernacular schools throughout the country,” Siti Mariah said after launching a book by Tamil writer M. Varatharajoo at the MBSA Hall in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam, recently.

For the community: Varatharajoo with his book.

Varatharajoo’s book entitled Vanjikappadum Malaysia Tamil Kalvi Poraadum Makkal is based on the problems faced by the Tamil primary schools in the country.

Siti Mariah said the book showed the frustration of the author on the condition of Tamil schools in the country and the people who had abused their power forsaking the well-being of the children and the Indian community.

“The author spent five years doing research on Tamil schools throughout Negri Sembilan, Johor and Perak.

“I hope someone would sponsor this book to be published in Malay, Chinese and English languages so it can reach out to all,” Siti Mariah said.

Sri Muda assemblyman Shuhaimi Shafiei, who was present at the launch, said the Indian community had been suffering in silence for years with regard to Tamil schools.

Thanks for your support: Varatharajoo (centre) giving a copy of his book to Shuhaimi (right) while Siti looks on.

In the book, Varatharajoo talks about the first Tamil school which was the Methodist Tamil School in Penang in 1903.

He points out that there were 999 Tamil schools in 1957 and the number has now dwindled to 523 with 150 of these schools having fewer than 50 pupils.

“There are also alleged cases of headmasters taking money allocated for poor pupils.

“At the end of last year, there were 105,618 pupils in 523 Tamil schools in the country, with most of them studying in buildings that are in deplorable condition,’’ Varatharajoo, who is an author of five books, said.

He said Tamil schools were faced with various problems such as termite infestation, lack of funds for chairs and tables and some even not having enough classrooms.

The 304-page-book is priced at RM25 a copy.

Those who want to get a copy can write to PO Box No 7424, 40670 Shah Alam, Selangor, or email at varatharajoo@gmail.com

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