He said ministry officials, in collaboration with the education ministry, hoped to resolve the problem within six to 12 months.
“These pupils are in primary and secondary schools but do not have identification documents, often due to irregularities in their parents’ marriages, such as unregistered marriages,” he said in Semporna today.
The children are registered with the district education offices. Officials of the two ministries would update the data to ensure none are overlooked, he said after presenting identity documents to six children at the Pulau Mabul national school here.
Saifuddin said many people are still unaware that births must be registered within 60 days in Peninsular Malaysia and 42 days in Sabah and Sarawak.
“When late registrations occur, children may attend school without identity documents or a birth certificate; it becomes difficult to further their education. If they fall ill and need hospital treatment, they are charged higher fees. Therefore, we aim to expedite the process,” he said.
He said officials from the national registration department would seek out schoolchildren in remote areas, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, and also those who are bedridden or in care homes.
At today’s ceremony, one of the recipients was 21-year-old Ajari Ghadari who said he had to wait for more than three years for his identity card to be approved. “I faced a slight issue with my application due to the ‘ethnicity’ category,” he said, although his siblings had received their identity documents.
A parent, Abd Lajid Ammin, 47, thanked the government for approving the citizenship applications of his five children, aged 19 to 23, after more than five years of applying in Kota Kinabalu and Semporna. - FMT
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