http://www.themalaysianinsider.

com/malaysia/article/rm100-million-yearly-allocation-to-be-given-
directly-to-tamil-schools-says
http://www.selliyal.com/?p=45877
Good news again to all our warga SJK (T) Simpang Lima. The Seni Budaya students with the teachers just left to Chennai,
India for a Baratham workshop and dance performance at Srimathi Roja Kannan Bharatha Natyalaya (School of
Bharathanatyam and Music). This is the first time our students are going abroad for an international performance. All the
best and GOD bless to all of them.

Ceremony & News
The Eleventh (11TH) Chapter of Presidents Achievers Award (Anugerah
Pencapaian Cemerlang Ke-11 UPSR 2012)
The 11
th
Presidents Achievers Award for students who scored straight 7As in the UPSR Examinations 2012 took place on 13
th
April
2013 at Dewan Merdeka, Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC). The award giving ceremony was graced by YBhg Dato Seri Utama
Dr S Samy Vellu, Special Envoy to India and South Asia on Infrastructure and Chairman of MIED.
YBhg Dato Seri Utama congratulated all the award recipients, their families and dedicated headmasters and teachers from Tamil
schools all over Malaysia.
YBhg Dato Seri Utama presented cash incentives of RM500 and certificate to each student achieved straight 7As. He particularly
congratulated the teaching staff and headmasters on the excellent results achieved in the year 2012 UPSR examination.
As a special recognition to the headmasters and teachers in producing 1,066 excellent award recipients, each school received a
pewter trophy.
In his congratulatory speech, YBhg Dato Seri Utama mentioned that the Presidents Achievers Award has achieved its objective by
witnessing exemplary UPSR results by the young achievers from Tamil schools. It is also an honour to the parents for guiding the
students towards excellence.

SJK(T) UPSR Results (Subject wise) for Year 2012
Subjects Results in 2012 (%)
Bahasa Melayu (Writing) 67.4
Bahasa Melayu (Comprehension) 62.1
Mathematics 94.1
Science 87.6
English 73.3
Tamil (Writing) 80.5
Tamil (Comprehension) 86.4

Breakdown of students UPSR SJK(T) 2012 (State wise)
No. State
No. of Students
(7As)
No. of Schools
1 Selangor 321 49
2 Johor 209 36
3 Perak 154 48
4 Negeri Sembilan 122 32
5 Kedah 89 21
6 Pulau Pinang 46 14
7 Melaka 23 9
8 Pahang 40 11
9 Wilayah Persekutuan 61 15
10 Perlis 1 1
Total 1,066 236

Top Tamil Schools for UPSR 2012
The 3 best top achieved schools were presented with a plug and a mock cheque amounting RM7,000, RM5,000 and RM3,000 each
respectively.


Back
Achievements of Indian students from Tamil schools in Malaysia in the UPSR examination since
year 1999.
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
45 101 165 202 357 376 517 581 577 725 825 807 1,218 1,066

60 Tamil schools to be rebuilt
Sixty Tamil schools will be rebuilt, many with new buildings, under the second phase of the
Governments redevelopment programme, MIC president Datuk Seri S. samy Vellu said.
The schools would be redeveloped under the RM100mil fund allocated by the Government, he
said after visiting the partially-burnt Selangor River Tamil school here with Deputy Minister in the
Prime Ministers Department, Datuk S.K. Devamany, on Monday.
Samy Vellu said 72 Tamil schools have already been redeveloped under the first phase.
There are about 523 Tamil schools in the country, with more than 300 schools falling under the
partially-aided government schools category.
Samy Vellu said the Public Works Department had recently tendered out the projects for the 62
schools, with work on the schools to commence soon.
On the Selangor River Tamil school, he said RM650,000 has been set aside by the Government
to build a new building that would cater for six to seven classrooms.
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 9:22 AMNo comments:
THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2009
TAMIL SCHOOLS : RM 80 MILLION ASSISTANCE PACKAGE
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today distributed an RM80 million assistance
package to Tamil schools, saying that it was not an by-election gimmick as it had been
announced much earlier.
"Whatever we do, they will question. But this is as good as any other time. This is the actual
giving out, the announcements were made much earlier before we knew about the by-
elections," said Najib, who spoke at a press conference after giving out the allocation which will
benefit 374 Tamil schools from eight states and Kuala Lumpur.
The RM80 million, of which RM50 million comes from the first stimulus package and the rest
from the Ministry of Finance allocation, was distributed as follows:

> Johor: 56 schools to get RM8.65 mil)
> Kedah: 49 schools (RM12.2 mil)
> Malacca: 13 schools (RM2.66 mil)
> Negeri Sembilan: 47 schools (RM1 mill)
> Pahang: 26 schools (RM5.28 mil)
> Perak: 85 schools (RM13.2 mil)
> Penang: 22 school (RM5.9 mil)
> Selangor: 67 schools (RM25.16 mil)
> Kuala Lumpur: nine schools (RM5.86 mil)
When asked to reveal his economic plans once he takes over as prime minister reportedly on
Friday, Najib reiterated that he did not wish to talk about this at this juncture and told the public
to wait for official announcements.
He said he will make a statement on Friday and "subsequently I will reveal more as time goes
by".
"It will be about the economy, politics and the direction that the government is going to take,"
said Najib, who explained that he was refraining from commenting on this out of respect for the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
"I have not had an audience with the King yet. Hopefully, the King will graciously give his
consent," said Najib.
To a question, he said he will not be bringing any potential cabinet list with him when he sees
the King.
Najib said that his One Malaysia Concept will be his platform when he becomes prime minister.
On the two characteristics of the concept, he said they are respect and mutual trust.
"We practice national unity by beginning with an attitude of mutual respect. When we have
mutual respect, it means we have an open mind to accept unity in diversity," said Najib.
"The second principle is mutual trust. You have to develop the trust. It wont happen overnight, it
has to be consciously developed in an organised manner."
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 5:13 AM1 comment:
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2008
Tamil schools to give feedback on subjects in English
The MIC will hold a special meeting with headmasters and parent-teacher associations (PTAs)
from 522 Tamil primary schools nationwide to seek feedback on the teaching of Science and
Mathematics in English.
Paty president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said it was important to do so as the issue affected the
entire community.
I have already discussed the matter with the Education Ministry and promised to call for a
meeting with all Tamil school headmasters and PTA representatives to hear their views, he told
reporters after officiating a Malacca/Negri Sembilan MIC re-branding workshop here yesterday.
He said the previous consensus among Tamil school teachers and the PTAs was for both
subjects to be taught in English.
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 2:12 PMNo comments:
SURVIVAL OF TAMIL SCHOOLS : ARE WE CONCERN???
Malaysia, the only country besides india, where tamil schools still survive. One of the strongest
advocates of tamil education is the MIC. Pointing to the continued existance of the tamil school
system as its achivement. If not for the MIC, there will not be any tamil schools. ( read more)
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 12:52 PMNo comments:
Tamil Schools To Stay On
We know that Tamil schools in Malaysia were established 100 years ago. Since then it has
been witnessing a lot of changes in providing quality education to the children especially to
those from low income families. Although Tamil schools were established by the British for
children from estates, initially to attract labourers to stay back for a longer periods, as time
passed by, they have gradually transformed into centres for education. Like other schools, Tamil
school also follows the national syllabii and all rules and regulations stipulated by the Malaysian
Education Ministry.
We cannot deny that Tamil schools safeguard our culture and language. It is also a place for
Tamil speaking children to learn about their own culture and values thus enhancing their skills in
learning. Even the UNESCO reports say that medium of instruction at the primary level should
be in the childs mother tongue as it plays an important role in enhancing the childs potential.
Another interesting and exclusive feature of Tamil schools is that the Indian children especially
those from low income familes receive more love and care from the teachers. The parents and
students also feel very comfortable with Tamil school teachers. Furthermore, many parents are
unable to speak proper Malay. This makes it difficult for them to communicate with Non Indian
teachers in National schools.
Many say that Tamil language has no economic value or it has very few job opportunities. In
reality, students are taught their own language not to secure a job, but to instill cultural values
and facilitate the processes of teaching and learning. It is not implied that learning Malay or
English or any other language, for that matter, promises employment. It is up to the individual
how he/she acquires the knowledge and effectively puts it into practice .
After six years of primary education, the Tamil school students are integrated in the secondary
schools. There, they learn everything in languages, other than Tamil. This goes on to prove that
these students not only have the capacity to learn through other languages but also have the
potential to perform well in their studies. So I dont see the rationale behind the arguement on
job opportunities. Language is a tool to acquire knowledge and not to secure a job. If a person
knows more languages, he/she can acquire more knowledge by reading the materials available
in the those languages.
I know a lot of professionals who had received primary education in Tamil schools. They
became professionals not because of Tamil language, but because of the knowledge that they
acquired through education. Mother tongue education helped them broaden their minds and
strengthen their belief systems.
There are many educated parents and professionals who send their children to Tamil schools.
They are aware the of importance of keeping our culture alive although we are in a globalised
world. They feel that besides preserving the mother tongue, acquiring the knowledge and
cultural values are paramount.
It is true that there were many dilapidated Tamil schools 10-15 years ago. There were also other
schools that were dilapidated during same period. Nowadays, we have many Tamil schools with
the latest teaching and learning facilities. If the educated parents send their children to Tamil
schools, I am sure their children will also perform well. What I am trying to say is, the type of
school does not really matter, what really matters is how the parents educate their children and
bring them up in the society.
It is also inappropriate to say that we are keeping our children in the dark. Children from tamil
schools are well exposed to other languages besides Tamil. There is a lot of importance given
to Malay and English in Tamil schools. Furthermore, Tamil school students do better in English
than Malay. That is the reason why the govenments move to teach Mathematics and Science in
English was welcomed by Tamil schools.
In the democratic country the parents have the right to decide which school their children must
attend. Normally, parents send their children to schools which they find more comfortable for
both themselves and their children. More than 50 % of the Indian parents feel very comfortable
with Tamil schools, and therefore send their children there. Others feel national school is more
comfortable.
The same applies to politicians. We should be grateful to the politicians who are executing their
responsibilities in providing the best for Tamil school children. Respecting the parents interest
towards Tamil school, the politicians take initiatives to provide all the facilities to Tamil school.
We must understand that they are not in any way obliged to send their children to Tamil
schools. No one is, for that matter!
In brief, Tamil school is a constitutional right granted to the Indians in this country. Therefore it is
considered unscrupulous to hurt the feelings of parents who send their children to Tamil
schools. We should, instead, respect the trust and confidence they have placed on Tamil
schools in shaping their childrens future. And as long as there is demand for Tamil schools and
continued progress among the students, the Tamil school will stay on. Let us give our support to
these schools.
source : www.yss98.com
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 11:13 AMNo comments:
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008
RM50mil for Tamil schools | ref : malaysiakini - MIC says thanks
MALAYSIAKINI REPORTED THAT , Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam thanked
the government and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for approving the MIC's request
for a RM50 million allocation for Tamil schools under the stimulus package announced today.

READ : Economic package unveiled
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 11:34 AM2 comments:
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2008
THANK YOU MIC
THANK YOU MIC
Vanakkam,

Each and every single pictures above has their own story. The existence of this schools are not
by some magic . It was a achievement of a force , which sincerely fighting for the survival of our
language and culture for the past 62 years. ( Read more)
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 2:17 AMNo comments:
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2008
exclusive interview , Malaysiakini - Samy vellu : Tamil schools:
Whose responsibility? MIC's or gov't's?
Tamil schools, like the Chinese schools, are often seen to be sidelined by the government,
though they are said to be an integral part of the national education system.
MCPX

Former education minister Musa Mohamad once stated in 2000 that Tamil schools should be
regarded as 'the responsibility of the community' although the Constitution provides that "there
shall be no discrimination against any citizen in providing out of the funds of a public authority
financial aid for the maintenance or education of pupils or students in any educational institution
()"

In 1957, there were approximately 888 Tamil schools which were established in rubber estates
predominantly resided by workers of South Indian origin.
Today the number has been reduced to 523 mainly for the purposes of development.

During a 90-minute exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, MIC president S Samy Vellu argued
that since gaining independence from the colonial rulers, his party has persistently struggled to
maintain and improve the schools.

You have been going around collecting money from the public to put up buildings for
Tamil schools. Why is the government not doing enough to upgrade Tamil schools to the
level of national schools?

According to the older Act, there are two types of schools. One is fully-aided Tamil school and
the other, partially-aided Tamil school. The rule at that time was that for partially-aided Tamil
schools, the government would pay the salary of the teachers and provide the necessary
facilities but parents and the public would have to contribute to put up the school building.

But I have been working on the government's mind for the last 29 years saying that this
requirement cannot be fulfilled and cannot be done.

I explained (to the government) then, that in an estate, there are only workers and they cannot
afford to build it so if they are to have a school, that school has to be built by the government
otherwise there will not be any school and the children will receive no education.

From the time I became a minister in 1979, I have been fighting on this case. Gradually only in
1983 we started building the first batch of schools with full government support. Former prime
minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad initially approved RM5.6 million to build the first batch of 12
partially-aided schools.

Having succeeded that in 1985, we (MIC) went for another claim of RM11 million and the sum
was approved for the construction of 19 more partially-aided schools. When this was completed,
there were many other allocations that we have sought from time to time for the schools.
Funding was always made available but the amount of money sometimes was not sufficient.

Sometimes we have more money and we built more schools, and when we did not have money
we built fewer schools.

Building Tamil schools is an ongoing matter which I have been continuously following but the
problem is we didn't do much publicity.

We carried on doing the work because to us the completion of the school and the provision of
the required infrastructure and amenities for the children to make them study was the most
important thing.

The question again is - why do you and other individuals have to go around collecting
money for putting up Tamil school buildings?

That happened in the early 1980s because even if the school building is not enough to
accommodate the growing number of students, no one would go forward to demand for more
facilities or more money. It's a chicken-and- egg matter.

Providing education to the children without any discrimination is the constitutional
responsibility of the Education Ministry. But you have been going around begging for
money to put up Tamil schools for the children of the Indian community. Why do you
have to do that?

You see, the education minister is not going to go from school to school to check the conditions.

That's why they have an education department, right?

No, many of the 72 Tamil schools that I've built are because of the most effective headmasters.
They come and ask for help.

Does not that mean that Tamil schools have been built by the community and not by the
Education Ministry?

As I told you earlier, partially-aided schools were something like the duty of parents but we
(MIC) have made it to be the duty of the government.

You say you have made changes, i.e. making the government to build the Tamil schools.
But it still remains a requirement that you have to get the land. Is this not a fact?

No. We surrender the land to the government to build the school. Let me ask you something.
For example in Taman Tun Sambathan, there are 900 families and more than 400 children go to
Gandhi High School where they have to walk a far distance and they cross a heavy-traffic road.

So this people want a school near their home and the land is available. So that is where we
should build the school.

You can't say we'll wait for the government to look for the land because they will definitely look
for one further away. But when we surrender the land and once the government agrees to build
a school, the government will buy over the land.

Is not also a fact that the land you provide must be in an area that is most convenient to
the students?

Yes. But what if there is no place available nearby and there is no more land available in that
area.

The ministry has always argued that partially-aided schools cannot be converted to fully-
aided schools because they are on private lands. You are aware that there is a Land
Acquisition Act which empowers the state authority to acquire any land for any purpose.
Why not the government acquire land for the purpose of building Tamil schools?

When there are 1,500 acres (607 hectares) of estate and the school is sitting on a quarter of the
land and when you want to subdivide that piece of land that means that the whole estate has to
be subdivided.

What will happen is the estate owners will have to pay new rates for the subdivisions, so
definitely the estates won't agree to pay extra. So the government can't take over the land.

Why are they asking you to get the land?

No! Tell me how many schools were built by donation? We surrender the land to the
government. Land is the responsibility of the government.

In Klang, a school was built and you said you built it without spending a single cent. So
where did the money come from? You also said about a Tamil school that you built in
Batang Melaka. You said the school was a structure of half-cement and half-wood. Now,
it was rebuilt and it was by a Malay man who, despite being a Malay, had built not one,
not two, but three Tamil schools.

The contractor built it.

He was a contractor. So it was not the government, but it was the contractor who paid for
it?

We did it without spending the people's money, what's so bad about that

Nothing bad, but the question is why is the government not taking the responsibility to
do it?

Let us all decide now. We don't touch the Tamil schools and let's wait for the government to
build them.

Should we not pressure the government to build the Tamil schools? Why do you have to
do it?

It is not the question of making me do it. I have a social responsibility to my community and
party. It is part of my party's decision that we must help and build the Tamil schools.

As the president of the party, it is my duty to build the schools. I can also write (like you) that this
is no good and that is no good but what is gained by saying something is no good?

Leadership quality is something that you cannot find in everybody at the same level. You
have a very special character - terrorising others to get things done. Would you say your
successor would possess the same quality?

No, but it is a matter of people understanding the necessity and responsibility that something
has to be done. I'm not in government now but I keep on working because I feel I have much
more responsibility to help the people now.

And we appreciate that. But will you say that your successor will be able to do the same
thing?

That I cannot say. Every human being has different capabilities

That is why the public is worried that since there is no government commitment to build
Tamil schools the way they are doing it for national schools. We are depending on
commitments by individuals.

Originally it was like that but we have told the government that they must pay up and they have
started to pay. For example in Selangor, every school is built on government land that has been
obtained.

Why should not there be a declared government policy to build Tamil schools in areas
where the schools are needed?

They have formulated the policy and it has been discussed. It will be further discussed to decide
what the ways of doing it, what the requirements and what will be the best solutions. That's the
way things work.

You say things are being worked out. When do you think the government will convert all
the Tamil and Chinese Schools to fully-aided schools?

The government has already taken a decision. In a special committee set up by the prime
minister and chaired by the deputy prime minister, it has been decided that the schools will be
made into fully-aided schools soon. And the proposal was accepted in the cabinet.

When exactly will this be achieved?

From now onwards as the need arises, it will be done

But the need is already there for 372 Tamil schools.

These schools are small schools with less than 50 students per school. It deserves a different
attention.

The Education Ministry said these are schools that need to be equipped with better facilities, so
they want to know if the schools will commit if the ministry sets up a group school and provide
them with buses and hostels.

The government has gone to the extent of offering buses and hostels.

Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan the development allocation for per student per month
according to school is:
National school RM33.30 per student
Tamil school RM10.55 per student
Chinese school RM4.50 per student
Way back in 1949, during the British days, the allocation was:
English school $188.88 per student
Malay school $66.84 per student
Tamil school $55.84 per student
Chinese school $8.72 per student
Is there discrimination now?

The reason the allocations are made as such is because the schools are very small and not
fitted with all the facilities like laboratories and so forth.

The moment all these facilities are in the school instantly the government will raise the allocation
per student.

How will they obtain all the facilities when there is inadequate allocation?

The allocation is not given - that is just how much the government spends on a child. The
government spends more money on a child who attends a school that is fully facilitated.

If the school doesn't have more than two classrooms then the government will spend much less
on a student who goes to that school.

But the allocation is not given on the basis of the kind of school a child attends i.e. a fully
equipped school or less equipped school. It is designated according to language stream
schools.

I won't call this discrimination because there may be many technical reasons to it. If there is
discrimination then the Chinese must fight for it.

Every year, the estimation is done with various requirements. If I ask for reasons, the ministry
will come up with reasons.

They won't tell me just because we are Indians, they won't give us fair allocations. This is not
that type of government. If it was, it won't be this developed today

The education minister has always obligated to do the right thing; he did not go around telling
people not to give to Indians.

Is not this the reason Tamil schools are in such a mess?

Tamil schools are not in a mess as it has been said by people who simply say and don't do
anything for the school!

We spend millions every year to print books, promote the education and we see the students
get happy!

You think it comes just like that! That is the initiatives and the people who don't put the initiative
are the people who sit at home and question others! That doesn't happen!

Is this discrimination carried out in pursuit of the 'ultimate objective' - to get rid of all
Tamil schools?

I don't think Tamil schools or Indian fellows can be finished off by anybody.

source: malaysiakini

Video Link : - Interview

Related posts:-
GOVERNMENT : SPECIAL UNIT TO MONITOR
DEVELOPMENT
Land for Tamil schools with govt support
More Tamil Schools To Become Fully Aided
RM100 million for 7 Estate Tamil Schools
RM41.5m upgrade for 40 Tamil schools
TAMIL SCHOOLS THEN AND NOW
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 2:51 AM1 comment:
FRIDAY, JULY 4, 2008
GOVERNMENT : SPECIAL UNIT TO MONITOR DEVELOPMENT
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government will set up a special unit under the Education Ministry to
monitor the development of Tamil schools as well as their problems.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the unit would identify the schools to be
converted into fully-assisted schools as well as consolidate those which had an enrolment of
less than 50 pupils.
For these schools which will be consolidated, we will propose that dormitories and other
facilities be built for the students.
For schools which have too many students, cabins will be built as additional classrooms for
them, he told reporters after chairing a Cabinet committee meeting on social problems facing
Indians at the Parliament building here yesterday.
Najib said the committee also proposed that an institute set up by MIC the Asian Institute for
Medicine, Science and Technology be re-categorised as one of the five institutes to receive
aid from the Government as a measure to boost the intake of Indian students into critical sectors
like medicine and engineering.
The institute, he added, would then sponsor Indian students to pursue courses in critical areas
in institutions of higher learning.
Other matters raised during the meeting included more taxi and bus permits for Indian
companies, better business opportunities and easier loans for entrepreneurs from that
community, and more vocational training places for its youths.
We would also like to see more opportunities for Indians in the development of vendor
programmes with companies like Proton and Petronas.
The committee also notes the lack of Indians in the civil service. We will raise this matter with
the Public Service Department, said Najib.
Najib said the committee would also discuss with Permodalan Nasional ways to increase the
Indian hold on equity in the Malaysian market.
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 10:00 PMNo comments:
MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2008
Land for Tamil schools with govt support
THE National Land Finance Cooperative Society (NLFCS) is willing to give land to eight Tamil
schools if the Government fully supports the schools.
Tamil Nesan quoted its executive director Tan Sri K.R. Somasundram as saying that the board
of directors had agreed to a proposal to transfer the land to the schools for the sake of the
childrens education.
He said that currently the Government was only giving partial aid to Tamil schools as many
were situated on private land.
He said it was the expectation of the Indian community that Tamil schools be fully-aided schools
to enable the pupils to study in a conducive environment.
He said NLFCS had spent nearly RM5mil to maintain schools under its supervision.
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 10:29 PMNo comments:
THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2008
More Tamil Schools To Become Fully Aided
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (Bernama) -- The Education Ministry has agreed in principle to the
conversion of all partially-aided Tamil schools into fully-aided schools in stages, MIC president
Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu said Tuesday.

He said the decision was reached at a meeting between him and Education Minister Datuk Seri
Hishammuddin Tun Hussein here Tuesday. Among those in the MIC president's delegation was
Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, who is also MIC secretary-general.


Samy Vellu said that of the total 524 Tamil schools, 322 were partially-aided and the rest fully-
aided.

"Although an agreement was reached on the status of the partially-aided schools, the Education
Minister said he still needed to seek the consent of the Cabinet," Samy Vellu said in a
statement.

He said it had been MIC's "long-fought battle" to convert the schools into fully-aided schools
"and we now can see some concrete move (by the government)".

Samy Vellu said he did not go into the details of the conversion such as the land status of the
schools but only said that it would be done in stages.

"We can't expect the entire 322 (partially-aided) Tamil schools to be converted overnight. It will
take some time but we are confident that eventually all the schools will be converted," he said.

The MIC president said he also raised the issue of allocations and the reconstruction of Tamil
schools with Hishammuddin.

Some RM40 million was allocated by the government to rebuild a number of schools.

-- BERNAMA
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 12:13 PMNo comments:
SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2008
RM100 million for 7 Estate Tamil Schools
Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister YB Kohilan Pillai, in his
statement to Malaysia Nanban, a tamil daily that his Ministry had identified 7 tamil
schools that located in estates nationwide. RM 100 million have been allocated to that
schools from his ministry. This sum will be distributed to those schools in 5 years
period.
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 11:06 AMNo comments:
THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2008
JOHOR PUTERA MIC ORGANIZING SCIENCE FAIR FOR TAMIL
SCHOOL STUDENTS

Johor PUTERA MIC in collaboration with Sri Murugan Centre, UTHM, UTM and IPTI are
organizing a Science Fair for Young Children on 11
th
May 2008 (Sunday) at 9.00am in Sultan
Iskandar Hall, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

This splendid event is expecting a crowd of 3000 people including 500 students. This project is
specially meant for Tamil school students all over Johor. The highlight of this program is that 59
schools out of 70 schools with 65 teams are taking part in this contest which we count as the
largest number of teams participating in 6 states.

The winner will be awarded RM 2000 with trophies, first runner-up is getting RM 1500 and
trophies, second runner-up is getting RM 1000 and trophies, for third runner up and forth
runner-up is RM 750 and RM 500 with trophies. Besides that, 10 consolation prizes are to be
given away and all the contestants are getting certificates. This program is open for everyone to
visit.

For further information, please feel free to contact Mr. Anand- 019 2255421, Mr. Mohan- 012
4410071, Mr. Raam Kumar- 017 7633134 or Mr. Krishna 016 5068241 ...
Science Fair for Young Children 2008
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 6:03 AMNo comments:
Science Fair for Young Children 2008 - 225 Tamil schools
nationwide.


For the last 3 years, Tamil Foundation has conducted Young Scientific Explorers (YSE)
involving 360 students in 2004, 1120 students in 2005 and 2094 students in 2006. YSE was
developed to introduce science to young people in a fun manner using everyday items. It was
conducted by visiting the participating schools and exhibiting 8 simple experiments, followed by
a visit to the National Science Centre.
This project was a collaborative effort between The Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) and
Tamil Foundation, Malaysian Indian Science Intellectuals Association, (MISI), Education,
Welfare and Research Foundation (EWRF) and the Head Masters Council (Selangor). To take-
off this pilot project, the Science Fair 2007 was held in Dewan Tunku Cancelor (DTC),
University of Malaya and consisted of 49 teams from 44 schools across Wilayah and Selangor.
The Science Fair 2007 was a great success to us and hope that it can be further improved in
Science Fair for Young Children 2008. In 2008, Science Fair will be conducted in 6 zones in
the months of April-May and as a follow-up of that, aNational level competition will be held in
the month of June involving up to 1125 students at the state level and 250 students at the
national level.
This project aims to improve on the concept, supporting structure and implementation tools of
Science Fair 2007 and help coordinate and organize Science Fairs primarily in Tamil Schools
nationwide and thereby creating a greater awareness about science and scientific methods. It
also aims to help motivate the students with the drive for achievement in their quest for
knowledge.
6 Zones


Total number of schools targeted to participate in Science Fair 2008 = 225 Tamil schools
nationwide.
Science Fair provides an opportunity for students, individually or as members of a team to
actually apply the theories and skills they have learned and acquired in their study of science.
For students who have not studied science, the Science Fair project will be rather difficult. But if
your respective classes and schools have made an effort to give students lots of experience
solving scientific problems, the Science Fair provides a perfect platform for the kids to show
what theyve learned. It also provides a venue to show the students and the academic
community on the whole, how important and useful SCIENCE is.
Science Fair 2008 is a very important tool to encourage our students to participate in more
knowledge related activities and to make the learning process more fun oriented. For more
information, please contact
Project Officer,
Science Fair for Young Children 2008
Tel: 03-2692 6533
Fax: 03-2692 6758
http://www.tamilfoundation.org
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 5:57 AMNo comments:
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2008
RM41.5m upgrade for 40 Tamil schools
THE STAR - Thursday April 24, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: Tenders to refurbish or upgrade 40 Tamil schools will be issued by the Works
Ministry next month.
Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed said work on the projects, worth RM41.5mil in total,
would start in July.
The allocation for the projects is from the Finance Ministry (RM30mil) and Education Ministry
(RM11.4mil).
Mohd Zin said 25 of the projects would be distributed to Class D contractors, 10 to Class F
contractors, three to Class E and one each for Class B and C contractors.
Thirty-one projects involve constructing additional buildings for schools while the rest involve
upgrading works, he said.
He added that the Finance Ministry would be funding the works on 25 schools, and the
Education Ministry would fund 15.
On the Prime Minister's statement that projects under the 9th Malaysian Plan would be
reviewed, Mohd Zin said it was normal for projects to undergo a mid-term review.
We are facing pressure from escalating oil prices, and we have to make sure the prices of food
are affordable. Those are our priorities.
We want infrastructure projects to continue, so we have been asked to reprioritise projects. If a
project is higher than the ceiling price (because of rising costs of building materials), we can
choose to downsize it, he said.
Posted by Dr. PUNITHAN SHANat 9:29 PMNo comments:
MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008
TAMIL SCHOOLS THEN AND NOW
TAMIL SCHOOLS AND MALAYSIAN SOCIETY

MIC has been in the forefronts to make certain that Tamil language and culture are an integral
dimension of the multi lingual and multi cultural society of Malaysia. Furthermore, the MIC continues to
play a very active role to see that, Tamil school education stands on par with other primary school
education. Tamil schools are a national heritage and a distinctive component of the Malaysian education
system.

We have seen tremendous improvements towards Tamil school education. While some people decry
the drop in the number of Tamil schools from 888 in 1957 to 523 in 2007, they fail to acknowledge that
there is a tremendous increase in the number of students currently enrolled in Tamil schools. The
increase is 108 percent. In 1957 there were only 50,766 students as compared to 105, 618 students in
2007.

We have seen a huge increase in the number of teachers currently employed by the Ministry of
Education. In 1970 there were only 3,258 teachers as compared to the current 7,126 in 2007. This is an
increase by 118.7 percent over the past 37 years. These teachers are our valuable assets and we must
encourage and nurture them as agents of community change. It is these teachers who are working hard
to make sure that qualities and standards improve.

A clear indication of educational improvement and excellence is reflected through the UPSR results. We
see a gigantic leap in the number of students securing 7As when we compare the available data. In
1995, 45 Tamil school students secured 7As but in 2007 we saw an increase by 1,173.3 percent as the
number of 7A students has risen to 573. This is a mammoth improvement and therefore with concerted
effort we can see further advancements.

Another quantifying measure of examining educational improvements is to analyse the subject by
subject performance of the UPSR results. Over the past 10 years we see incredible improvements in the
number of passes noted in subjects. In some subjects such as Maths and science, their performance is as
good as that of the national schools.

However, we must acknowledge that there will always be room for improvements. It is therefore
necessary that during this symposium we must clearly articulate the necessary areas for improvement
and chart out an action plan to resolve them over the next 10 years.

NUMBER OF SCHOOLS AND ENROLLMENT

There were 888 Tamil schools in Malaysia in 1957 with 50,766 students. This number of Tamil schools
has dwindled over the last 50 years due to development of estates into housing and commercial areas.
Therefore there are 523 Tamil schools in 2007 with a total of 105,618 students.

Of the 523 schools there are 327 under-enrolled Tamil schools where there are less than 150 students.
149 schools out of the 327 schools have fewer than 50 students.

Year 1980 -
589 tamil schools
73,958 students
3,560 teachers

Year 1990
547 tamil schools
96,120 students
4,049 teachers

Year 2000
524 tamil schools
89,175 students
5,996 teachers

Year 2006
524 tamil schools
101,972 students
6,740 teachers

Year 2007
523 tamil school
105,618 students
7,126 teacher

NEW BUILDING

In the meeting it was announced that 11 schools out of 22 schools will get a new lease of life. These
schools will be fully rebuilt with all teaching and learning facilities. The schools are SJK(T) Bangi, SJK(T)
Ladang Semenyih, SJK(T) Ladang Tumbuk, SJK(T) Glenmarie, SJK(T) RRI Sg Buloh, SJK(T) Ladang Sabak
Bernam, SJK(T) Ladang Sg Bernam, SJK(T) Ladang Midlands, SJK(T) Ladang Bute, SJK(T) Ladang Ampar
Tenang and SJK(T) Ladang Valamrosa.

SJK(T) Kajang will receive a five storey building at the cost of RM3.3 million under the special allocation
from the Ministry of Education. The Parents- Teachers Association of the school has also contributed a
substantial sum for the rebuilding of the school. The construction work would be commenced at any
time, said Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu. Once the building is built, SJK(T) Kajang will be the only Tamil school
in the country with 5 storey building.

PARTIALLY REBUILD

Other 11 schools will either be partially rebuilt or upgraded. The schools are SJK(T) Ladang Coalfields,
SJK(T) Ladang Ebor, SJK(T) Ladang Bukit Ijok, SJK(T) Ladang Sungai Rambai, SJK(T) Ladang Changkat Asa,
SJK(T) Ladang Kg Baru, SJK(T) Ladang Sungai Terap, SJK(T) Ladang Acob, SJK(T) Ladang Selangor River
SJK(T) Brauston and SJK(T) Brafferton

RELOCATION

In addition to these, Samy Vellu said that the Selangor Menteri Besar has also allocated RM1.2 million to
relocate and rebuild SJK(T) Seaport from Sungai Way to Kampung Medan where there is high density of
Indian population. It is expected that once that school is built, it would ease the overcrowding at SJK(T)
Vivekananda, Petaling Jaya.

The ground breaking ceremony for the school will be held on 13 Wenesday by Selangor Menteri Besar,
YAB Dato Seri Khir Bin Toyo and YB Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu.
New Tamil Schools

He also indicated that a new Tamil school would be built in Taman Tun Sambathan in Sungai Siput as
one of the ways to reduce the overcrowding in SJK(T) Mahatma Gandhi Kala Salai which currently has
951 students and is expected that the number would go up to more than 1,000 students in 2009.
Besides that, one more new Tamil school would be built in Putra Height, Puchong.
RM 20 million for Tamil schools

In another development, Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu announced that the government has approved an
additional sum of RM20 million for this year to change the old face of several Tamil schools. According
to him, the second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohd has agreed to set aside the amount for rebuilding
Tamil schools. These include the rebuilding of SJK(T) Sangeetha Sabha in Ipoh. Names of other schools
are being finalized.

Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu hopes that with the sufficient allocation from the government, all Tamil schools
in the country could be equipped with the latest learning and teaching facilities.

# RM4 million for 22 Tamil schools
# Seaport Tamil school will be rebuilt in Kg Medan
# New Tamil schools to be built
# Additional RM20 million for Tamil schools

The plight of 22 Tamil schools in Selangor has drawn the attention of Selangor Menteri Besar (Chief
Minister) YAB Dato Seri Khir Bin Toyo. Several portions of the schools are in dilapidated condition. They
either need to be rebuilt or upgraded. These schools are classified as partially aided schools and located
in the rural areas.

Due to the dilapidated condition, the schools also face greater problems in accommodating the
increasing number of students as there are shortage of classrooms. In some schools teachers have to
conduct classes in the canteen due to shortage of classrooms.

To address their plight, Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu said that Selangor Menteri Besar has allocated RM2
million. Apart from that Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu has secured an additional RM2 million from the
Education Minister, Dato Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

In this regards, Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu had a meeting with the 22 headmasters/headmistresses on 6
February 2008. At the meeting he discussed the allocation and action plans to upgrade the school
buildings. He requested Datin Azizah, Director of School Division of JKR who was also present in the
meeting to get the work completed as soon as possible.

Malaysia were established 100 years ago. Since then it has been witnessing a lot of changes in providing quality education to the
children especially to those from low income families. Although Tamil schools were established by the British for children from
estates, initially to attract labourers to stay back for a longer periods, as time passed by, they have gradually transformed into
centres for education. Like other schools, Tamil school also follows the national syllabii and all rules and regulations stipulated by
the Malaysian Education Ministry. We cannot deny that Tamil schools safeguard our culture and language. It is also a place for
Tamil speaking children to learn about their own culture and values thus enhancing their skills in learning. Even the UNESCO
reports say that medium of instruction at the primary level should be in the childs mother tongue as it plays an important role in
enhancing the childs potential. Another interesting and exclusive feature of Tamil schools is that the Indian children especially those
from low income familes receive more love and care from the teachers. The parents and students also feel very comfortable with
Tamil school teachers. Furthermore, many parents are unable to speak proper Malay. This makes it difficult for them to
communicate with Non Indian teachers in National schools. Many say that Tamil language has no economic value or it has very few
job opportunities. In reality, students are taught their own language not to secure a job, but to instill cultural values and facilitate the
processes of teaching and learning. It is not implied that learning Malay or English or any other language, for that matter, promises
employment. It is up to the individual how he/she acquires the knowledge and effectively puts it into practice . After six years of
primary education, the Tamil school students are integrated in the secondary schools. There, they learn everything in languages,
other than Tamil. This goes on to prove that these students not only have the capacity to learn through other languages but also
have the potential to perform well in their studies. So I dont see the rationale behind the arguement on job opportunities. Language
is a tool to acquire knowledge and not to secure a job. If a person knows more languages, he/she can acquire more knowledge by
reading the materials available in the those languages. I know a lot of professionals who had received primary education in Tamil
schools. They became professionals not because of Tamil language, but because of the knowledge that they acquired through
education. Mother tongue education helped them broaden their minds and strengthen their belief systems. There are many
educated parents and professionals who send their children to Tamil schools. They are aware the of importance of keeping our
culture alive although we are in a globalised world. They feel that besides preserving the mother tongue, acquiring the knowledge
and cultural values are paramount. It is true that there were many dilapidated Tamil schools 10-15 years ago. There were also other
schools that were dilapidated during same period. Nowadays, we have many Tamil schools with the latest teaching and learning
facilities. If the educated parents send their children to Tamil schools, I am sure their children will also perform well. What I am trying
to say is, the type of school does not really matter, what really matters is how the parents educate their children and bring them up
in the society. It is also inappropriate to say that we are keeping our children in the dark. Children from tamil schools are well
exposed to other languages besides Tamil. There is a lot of importance given to Malay and English in Tamil schools. Furthermore,
Tamil school students do better in English than Malay. That is the reason why the govenments move to teach Mathematics and
Science in English was welcomed by Tamil schools. In the democratic country the parents have the right to decide which school
their children must attend. Normally, parents send their children to schools which they find more comfortable for both themselves
and their children. More than 50 % of the Indian parents feel very comfortable with Tamil schools, and therefore send their children
there. Others feel national school is more comfortable. The same applies to politicians. We should be grateful to the politicians who
are executing their responsibilities in providing the best for Tamil school children. Respecting the parents interest towards Tamil
school, the politicians take initiatives to provide all the facilities to Tamil school. We must understand that they are not in any way
obliged to send their children to Tamil schools. No one is, for that matter! In brief, Tamil school is a constitutional right granted to the
Indians in this country. Therefore it is considered unscrupulous to hurt the feelings of parents who send their children to Tamil
schools. We should, instead, respect the trust and confidence they have placed on Tamil schools in shaping their childrens future.
And as long as there is demand for Tamil schools and continued progress among the students, the Tamil school will stay on. Let us
give our support to these schools.

he number of students registered for Standard One in Tamil schools has dropped by 23% this year. This is alarming, considering the
millions of ringgit the government is spending to upgrade the 523 Tamil schools in the country. Several questions arise. Why is the
Tamil community moving away from vernacular schools? Do parents in the community believe that national schools are better for
their children? Is it worth spending those millions on a school system that is seeing a drop in enrolment? Could the money be put to
better use to benefit Malaysian Indians? Does the community really care for Tamil schools? Politicians and academicians may go on
arguing and questioning one anothers sincerity in fighting to improve the lot of Tamil schools. He is not Tamil educated; so he does
not really care about Tamil schools. How many of his children are in Tamil schools? These are typical of the remarks we often
here in the rhetoric about Tamil education, especially among politicians. But nobody seems interested in addressing the core issues
that besiege Tamil schools. I am a Masters degree holder who went to a small Tamil school in the sleepy town of Batang Berjuntai
(now Bestari Jaya), and I am familiar with the real issues surrounding these vernacular schools. Last year, there were 18,100
students in Tamil schools nationwide. The number has plunged to 13,889 this year. If the enrolment continues to decline, shouldnt
we expect the number of schools to decrease? How would the community, especially politicians, justify keeping the 523 Tamil
schools going? There are various reasons for the decline in enrolment, including the following: a falling birth rate, a mismatch
between population concentrations and the location of schools, a changing mindset among parents, and a frozen mindset among
teachers and school officials.
Sunday 10