'Poor students' access to education compromised with massive budget cut'

The Education Ministry’s efforts to improve access to education for poor students will be compromised with the 95 per cent reduction in allocations announced under Budget 2016 for its Poor Students Trust Fund, said a DAP lawmaker.

Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching in a statement noted that the government had only allocated RM10 million for the fund under Budget 2016, compared to the RM200 million allocation received this year.

“The fund was set up mainly to assist low-income parents who cannot afford to send their children to school, in hope of reducing the gap between access to education in urban and rural areas,” said Teo.

“The objective of the fund is also to eradicate cases of students dropping out of school due to poverty, aside from providing equal access to education,” she said, stressing that the drastic cut would hinder the ministry’s efforts to achieve its objective.

Citing statistics from the Education Ministry, Teo said it was found that 10.83% of students had dropped out of school between 2006 and 2010.

A United Nations Global Education First Initiative launched in 2012 had also found that there were 57 million students worldwide who dropped out of school, with poverty being the primary factor.

As such, Teo said the government must explain the rationale behind its massive cut in allocations for education assistance, in light of increased income received from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implemented this year.

“Even if there is a valid reason, the reduction should be done in stages and not drastically as announced in Budget 2016,” she said.

The Education Ministry’s trust fund was set up in line with the government’s mandatory education policy effective January 2003 under Section 29(A) of the Education Act 1966.

Under the Act, all parents are required to enrol their children in primary school beginning seven years of age. -Mkini