January 22, 2019 3:56 PM 《FMT News》Ho
Kit Yen -
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| NGO leader Ronnie Wong (blue shirt) says some Chinese primary schools are forcing students to pay a fee for computer classes during school hours. |
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| Chinese education activist Edward Neo (white shirt, left) holding a newspaper cut-out of an education ministry statement that computer classes cannot be held during formal school hours. |
PUTRAJAYA: An NGO today claimed that Chinese primary schools
in several states are “forcing” pupils to take and pay for computer classes
during school hours, although such classes are to be held only after school
hours.
Ronnie Wong, who heads Persatuan Jaringan Ibubapa Pencinta
Pendidikan Bahasa Zhonghua, said the education ministry, in a circular last
April, had barred Chinese primary schools from conducting computer classes
during school hours.
But, he said, the practice was still continuing in certain
states and pupils were being forced to pay RM50 a month for the classes.
“For us, charging a fee for classes within school hours is
against the law. The ministry has to explain why no action has been taken
against these schools,” he said outside the ministry building here after
submitting a memorandum to the minister.
Last June, Education Minister Maszlee Malik said
Chinese-medium schools had been instructed to stop computer classes during
school hours, as it contravened several clauses under the Education Act.
Maszlee said computer classes should only be conducted after
school hours.
The group’s adviser, Edward Neo, said they had received
complaints from the parents of pupils from over 100 schools across Malaysia on
the computer class issue.
“Parents told us that computer classes are included in their
children’s timetable along with other core subjects,” he said.
A parent known as Lee, who has children studying at a
Chinese primary school in Kuala Lumpur, claimed that the computer classes were
repetitive of other Science and Information Technology subjects taught in
schools.
“My children told me they are bored attending the classes
and were only taught basic computer functions and programmes like Microsoft
Word.”
Lee added that it was unfair to force parents to pay extra
for something that their children had already learned as part of the school’s
core subjects.
Meanwhile, Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching said in a
statement that Chinese primary schools need to get approval from the respective
parent-teacher associations (PTA) and state education departments in order to
conduct computer classes during school hours.
She said she had instructed state education departments to
submit the applications to her office.
She also said schools could not force students to pay for
the computer classes.
（FMT News）
