Kerajaan PKR Selangor is fair, for a population ratio of 60% Melayu, 25% Chinese and 15% Indian in Selangor. Kerajaan Negri PKR Selangor distributes education funds as follows:-
Chinese schools 38%Indian schools 25%
Islamic (malays) 37%
from opposition website fmt below
'Let Jeyakumar handle Tamil school funds'
By G Vinod
PETALING JAYA: A Tamil Parent-Teacher Association is up in arms against state executive councillor Halimah Ali taking charge of funding for Tamil schools.
Watson Tamil School Parent-Teacher Association feels that the matter should be handled by Dr A Xavier Jeyakumar instead.Its chairman, S Sugumaran, said Jeyakumar (the exco in charge of Indian affairs) should be allowed to continue managing the funding for Tamil schools as he had been doing a good job.
On Aug 2, Halimah, the state exco for education, told a meeting of parents of Tamil school students that allocations for Tamil schools will not be managed by Jeyakumar but herself.
Said Sugumaran: “As far as I know, Jeyakumar had distributed allocations to Tamil schools dutifully. All the schools need to do is to submit a working paper on whatever projects they plan to do and he will approve the allocation if it is beneficial to the schools.”
On allegations that Jeyakumar had not distributed funds to all 97 Tamil schools in the state, Sugumaran dismissed the claims, saying that perhaps the schools had been ill-advised on the proper procedures for applying for such funds.
“As long as the schools provide proper documents, they will receive the money. Perhaps these schools did not receive the funds due to some glitches in their application.”
He also queried Halimah's credentials, saying she does not know much about issues plaguing Tamil schools.
“She has been the exco for education for the last two years, but I never seen her visiting any Tamil schools,” Sugumaran claimed.
He also alleged that Halimah never did anything not only for Tamil schools, but also all schools in Selangor.
“She received about RM15 million in allocation to handle all schools in the state, but I don't see anything forthcoming. What has she been doing with the funds?” Sugumaran asked.
His views are also supported by a Hindu Youth Organisation official, who wanted to remain anonymous.
“Jeyakumar has a wider reach with the Indian community as he is in charge of plantation workers in the state and most Tamil schools are located in these estates,” the official said.
“His previous experience with non-governmental organisations had made him knowledgeable on issues dogging Tamil schools, something that Halimah lacks.”
On claims that some schools did not receive any funds, the official said all schools were given funds but some of them refused to take the money for fear of a backlash from the federal government.
“They are worried that the federal government might come after them if they receive money from the Pakatan-led state government.” he said.
'I look after all communities'
When contacted, Halimah dismissed claims that she had done nothing for Tamil schools.
“My education unit has conducted a lot of programmes for Indians... we provide motivational courses for the Indian community targeting the youths and parents. We didn't touch the RM4 million allocated for Tamil schools to conduct these courses.”
She added that as the state exco for education, she strives to look after the educational needs of not only the Indian community but also all the communities in Selangor.
“The state government allocated RM16 million for all schools in Selangor, not RM15 million. Of this amount, RM6 million is for religious schools, RM4 million for public Chinese schools, RM2 million for private Chinese schools and RM4 million for Tamil schools,” Halimah said.
“Though I am in charge of education in Selangor, Jeyakumar himself volunteered to handle fundings for Tamil schools and I had no problem with it. Upon getting the consent of Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, I left it to him (Jeyakumar) to handle it as I did not want to interfere with his job. It is not that I left out the Indians altogether.”
Halimah said now that she is back in charge of Tamil school fundings, she plans to hold a meeting with all 97 PTA representatives of Tamil schools to discuss the funding issue.
“I want to hear their grouses. I am trying to get the menteri besar to sit in this meeting,” Halimah said.
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