MUCH has been said and written about the plight of Tamil schools in the country, often said to be treated as the step- child or, as an educationist puts it, “the Cinderella of the Malaysian educational system”.

But who is treating it as a stepchild? Most fingers point at the government, but there are several pointing at the Indian community itself.

Comparisons are sometimes made with Chinese schools which, like most Tamil schools, are not fully funded by the government.

Malaysian Indian Businessmen Association president P. Sivakumar dismisses outright claims that the community is not doing enough to assist Tamil schools.

If not for private donors and wealthy businessmen from the community, Sivakumar argues, half of the 523 Tamil schools in the country would have been closed down a long time ago.
He cites a recent example where a hall for a Yahya Awal Tamil school in Johor Baru, costing RM700,000, was built with public donations.

Does this mean the community can now stop asking for government handouts? Can it become like the Chinese community, which even runs private independent schools?

Sivakumar says it is unfair to compare the two communities.

“Almost 90 per cent of the (Indian) community are wage earners. There is no way for these people to contribute when they themselves often do not have enough. “It is high time these schools were turned into fully-funded schools. Don’t drag out the problem any more.”

Education, Welfare and Research Foundation Malaysia (EWRF) president S.P. Pathi agrees that the community cannot take care of the Tamil schools on its own. He dismisses as illogical the comparison between the Indians and the Chinese as economically, the Indians were way behind them. “About 10 years ago, 85 per cent of the Tamil school-going pupils came from families earning RM1,200 and below. Things have not changed much,” he says.

A dissenting voice comes from YSS director of policy research, K. Manikam.

“Many businessmen and well-to-do Indians are not coming forward to help Tamil schools,” says Manikam, who has been involved in Tamil school issues for eight years. “Most Indians are willing to spend on temples rather than Tamil schools. Temples are given very little allocation but Indians fork out their own money and build big temples costing millions of ringgit. “Why can’t the same be done for Tamil schools?”

Manikam says the community must take the initiative to invest its resources in primary education.

Perhaps there is another major difference between Chinese and Tamil schools.

The Chinese, although speaking different dialects at home, have a common “Chinese language” in Mandarin whereas Tamil schools are mainly for Tamils and not for all Indians, who have their own written and spoken languages. This could be why, although there is a growing number of well-to-do Indians, the contribution to Tamil schools remains small.

Manikam agrees that most of the other sub-ethnic groups like the Telugus, Malayalees and Punjabis prefer not to send their children to Tamil schools as it is not their mother tongue. “The English-speaking and non-Tamil speaking families also prefer to send their children to national schools. “Many feel it is beneath their status to send their children to Tamil schools as most of the pupils there are from poor families,” he says.

Tamil schools in the country began in 1816 when the first was established in Penang. More followed with the opening up of rubber estates although not all owners supported or provided funds. Things improved in the 1930s when the Indian government raised the issue of the treatment of Indian labourers with the colonial government in then-Malaya. Soon, the government started providing financial aid and teacher training and appointed inspectors for Tamil schools.

At its height in 1957, there were 888 Tamil schools, but the number had fallen to 523 by last year. Nevertheless, the enrolment has seen a 108 per cent increase, rising from 50,766 pupils in 1957 to 105,618 pupils last year. The number of teachers has also risen from 3,258 teachers in 1970, to 7,126 last year. The numbers clearly show that there is a demand for places in Tamil schools.

Or is it a case of parents having no choice but to send their children to such schools because national schools are too far from their homes?

Manikam says there is an increase in the enrolment in Tamil schools because of the improvement in academic performances. “In 2002, only 45 pupils scored 7As in their UPSR but the number increased to 583 pupils last year,” he says.