Two DAP parliamentarians today raised their concern over the transparency of the Education Ministry's (MOE) leadership in addressing the issue of students dropping out of school.
This comes after the ministry failed to provide statistics and data concerning school dropout cases after it was asked to do so in Parliament.
In a joint statement, Teo Nie Ching (DAP-Kulai) and Steven Sim (DAP-Bukit Mertajam), criticised the ministry for allegedly not being transparent and comprehensive when asked by Sim to tell Parliament how many school students have dropped out from school between 2018 and 2021, and provide the breakdowns according to state, gender, and racial background of the students involved.
However, according to them, instead of providing the data, the Education Ministry replied saying that it was looking into the ministry's Students Database Application System and found that the system, which had been in use since 2012, needed to be improved especially concerning the record of students who quit school.
"We want to state our concern to Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin as the person leading the ministry. Such an answer is totally unacceptable.
"What is the problem that the ministry is facing? Is the database system no longer working that it caused the ministry to be unable to answer the question transparently by providing statistics as requested?
"The response provided was totally unrelated to the question and this action by the ministry has also raised concern on the parliamentary question and answer system," the statement said.
Data crucial for intervention
Teo is a former deputy education minister while Sim is a former deputy youth and sports minister. Both served the government when Pakatan Harapan was holding federal power.
According to the MPs, the students' database system is a basic system that always functions and the Education Ministry should have been able to provide answers to the question raised by Sim at any time.
They said the data requested was important to reflect the real figures on school attendance, and also to gauge the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the education system.
"If the ministry does not have detailed data on students who have dropped out of school, then how can they conduct intervention?
“We are afraid that the issue is getting worse throughout the pandemic, but without the said data, we can not make any comparison,” they added. - Mkini
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