Use discretion in cases of children with no birth certs

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) has urged Education Department officials and headmasters to use their discretion in cases of children of Malaysian parentage who are without birth certificates.

Secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng said in such cases, the children should be admitted in the school first and the technicalities about the birth certificates sorted out later.

She told Bernama that it had always been the union's stand that children should not be deprived of education because of such technicalities.

Lok was commenting on a recent case where nine children were barred from attending the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil Ladang Linsum in Seremban since February for not having birth certificates although their parents were Malaysians.

It was reported that the school had barred them after being told by the state Education Department that headmasters who allowed such pupils in their schools would be fined RM1,000 for each student.

However, they were allowed to resume classes following the intervention of Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong and a consultant at the Cabinet Committee on the Indian Community in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam.

Lok said the Education Ministry should send out a circular advising local education officials and school headmasters to give priority to education rather than wrangle over technicalities.

We provide education opportunities even to the children of foreigners, why should Malaysian children be deprived of it?