'New Form One students not given schools they choose'

The Penang government has received many complaints from parents and teachers that pupils who scored up to 5As in the recent Standard Six UPSR examination are not allowed to continue their Form One next year at premier schools in the state.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy said today many Indian Malaysian families, including teachers, are upset that these children are not getting to go to the "premier" schools, even though they have excellent UPSR results.

The premier schools, Ramasamy said, included Penang Free School, Bukit Jambul Secondary School and Convent Green Lane.

"There is a lot of unhappiness among the students, their parents and even their teachers. They have contacted us to lodge a complaint that the students are being pushed to schools that are not of their choice," Ramasamy toldMalaysiakini.

"They obtained good results. Such good marks also refute the perception that Tamil schools are not producing good students, which is wrong.

"Those affected claim they have been discriminated by the Education Department," added Ramasamy, who is also the state executive councillor in charge of education.

Clarify the matter, Education Department told

He urged the Education Department to clarify the matter, stressing that he was not accusing it of discrimination but only raising the claims of those affected.

He appealed to the department to allow qualified Indian students enter "good" schools, adding that their results should be given weight.

"Already, they come from circumstances not conducive for study and yet they have performed well. So it is better for the department to come out and clarify the issue," he said.

This problem was not largely felt by students from the Chinese community as many of them (up to 90 percent) preferred to go to Chinese schools.

The Malay students - some of whom obtained only 3As - have been given admission to premier schools, Ramasamy noted.

State Education Department director Ahmad Tarmizi Kamaruddin was not available for comment.

He has not responded to several calls from Malaysiakini, nor has he replied to text messages sent to him.

Ahmad Tarmizi's office staff said he was away and would return to work on Monday.