Uproar in Penang assembly over schools’ ban on politicians

 

P Ramasamy says government leaders are forbidden to visit schools, but opposition leader Muhammad Yusoff Mohd Noor claims he also suffered the same when Pakatan Harapan was in federal power.

GEORGE TOWN: There was chaos in the Penang state assembly when deputy chief minister P Ramasamy spoke of education authorities refusing to allow headmasters of dilapidated schools to reach out to the state government for help.

Responding to a supplementary question by Mohd Tuah Ismail (PH-Pulau Betong) on politicians not being allowed to visit schools with broken facilities, Ramasamy said the state government was trying its best to help dilapidated schools although their administrators did not allow them entry.

“We have parent-teacher associations (PTAs) reaching out to us for help with the condition that we do not visit the schools.

“I can understand their reasons since the education authorities forbid schools from engaging with the state government.

P Ramasamy.

“We even have headmasters who were issued warnings by the state education authorities for allowing us into their schools.

“I remember a case in 2017 when the former headmaster of SJKT Mak Mandin in Butterworth was transferred within 24 hours after former chief minister Lim Guan Eng visited her school,” he said.

He said the state government never faced this problem when Pakatan Harapan was in power in Putrajaya.

Opposition leader Muhammad Yusoff Mohd Noor (BN-Sungai Dua) interjected and said he also faced this problem when PH was in power.

Muhammad Yusoff Mohd Noor.

“This problem crops up whenever there is a change in the federal government. However, I don’t think the issue voiced by the deputy chief minister (Ramasamy) actually exists. It might just be a perception,” he said.

His response prompted Muhammad Faiz Fadzil (PH-Permatang Pasir) to ask if Putrajaya respected the concept of federalism.

“The BN and PN legislators in this assembly must ask Putrajaya to end this discriminatory practice.

“Respect the state government, which is just trying to help these schools in need, even if it is a PH-led (state) government,” he said.

An argument then broke out between Yusoff and several backbenchers but deputy speaker Amar Pritpal Abdullah managed to restore order.

Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow then asked for a bipartisan committee to be formed between the state government, Yusoff and other interested assemblymen to ask the education authorities to look into the matter. - FMT