Rasah MCA praises Dr Mah over RM1.6mil allocation for 16 Chinese schools

 

PETALING JAYA: Rasah MCA secretary Ng Kian Nam has praised Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon (pic) for the timely distribution of allocation for the maintenance and repair of 16 Chinese secondary schools before Chinese New Year.

With this, Ng urged the government to approve the construction of more Chinese schools in new residential areas.

On Tuesday (Feb 9), Dr Mah distributed RM100,000 each totalling RM1.6mil to 16 secondary schools. The allocation is part of the RM800mil set aside for the maintenance of institutions that fall under the Education Ministry as allocated under Budget 2021.

“This allocation is timely for the schools as it allows them to continue to upgrade their facilities to ensure a comfortable learning environment for their students, ” he said on his Facebook post on Tuesday.

Ng praised Dr Mah for fulfilling his promise of granting the financial allocation to those schools, adding that Dr Mah had also promised to continue to assist schools to solve other problems such as the lack of teachers.

In 2020 alone, Ng said 65 Chinese schools had received their maintenance allocation from the Education Ministry, noting that some schools even received more funding than in previous years.

He claimed that under Pakatan Harapan’s administration, allocation to Chinese schools was restricted to grants which resulted in several schools not obtaining their allocation.

“I hope that Dr Mah, who has taken over the deputy education minister post since March last year can correct the administration malpractice as soon as possible and refer to the government’s consistent handling of the allocation funds for Chinese primary schools.

“(Back then), 81 Chinese schools were treated equally and regular maintenance funds were given annually according to actual needs, ” he said.

Ng also urged the government to abide by its past commitments to restructure or establish more Chinese schools, adding that they should also actively maintain the special characteristics and status of these schools including respecting the sovereignty of the board of directors, promoting Chinese culture, and providing more teachers.

“I believe this will help promote Malaysia’s diversified education and enhance its competitiveness to ensure that these schools are up to date, meet the needs of parents and students, as well as to cultivate more high-quality national leaders in various fields, ” he said. - Star