By Sharunya Raja

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11: Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching said that there is an obvious indication of prejudice in the allocation of laptops to schools, since just 6 out of 527 Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (Tamil Vernacular schools) received laptops from the government.

“This is a clear sign of discrimination in the distribution of laptops to schools because according to the answers given by the Ministry of Education, only six out of 527 SJKTs receive laptops from the government.

“I will classify this as a vast injustice to the Indian community and such discriminatory distribution of essential devices for educational purposes in times of a pandemic should never happen,” the former education minister said in a statement.

“Our education system is based on the premise that everyone should have meaningful access to education and no child should be left behind. Yet, Ismail Sabri’s government is not shy of neglecting this basic principle of education and governance.

“As the Prime Minister claims, the present government’s actions and beliefs do not match the spirit of Keluarga Malaysia. SJKT’s needs and interests have been ignored, which is far from the ideal sense of justice that a family would have,” she added.

“During my tenure as Deputy Minister of Education, I was very determined to make sure SJKT, together with SK, SJKC, SMK, mission schools, religious schools, were all looked after equally,”

She also reminded the government that the Perikatan Nasional government had already reduced special maintenance allowance for SJKT to RM28.9 million in 2021 from a standard RM50 million that has been distributed to the Indian community for many years.

“This indicates and reflects how the government of the day prioritises education for the Indian community and to me it looks as if the government does not care of the needs of children from the minority community.

“I call upon the sitting Education Minister to repair this situation immediately. A true Malaysian will fight for Malay, Chinese and Indians. A true “Ahli Keluarga Malaysia” will strive to serve all races,” she added.