SEREMBAN - A sign at the entrance to SJKT Ladang Linsum near here reads: “At this gate, we begin our journey to excellence”.
But 12-year-old C. Jayasutha, who is due to sit for her UPSR exam in five months, will beg to differ.
The orphan and seven other pupils face a bleak future as they have been abruptly stopped from attending classes since Feb 24 for not having birth certificates.
This despite the fact that their parents are all citizens.
“I am only an average pupil and I need to attend school to be able to do well in the UPSR. I cannot afford tuition,'' she said in between sobs outside the school.
Approached by The Star, headmistress A. Gracy said the action was due to a directive from the state Education Department that school heads who allowed such pupils in their schools would be fined RM1,000 for each pupil, which must be paid out of their own pockets.
The other pupils who have been forced to stop school are siblings L. Nisha, 10, Pavitra, nine, and Teeban, eight, orphaned cousins S. Meganathan, 11, and Mahaletchumy, seven, and K. Tamilarasi, nine, and G. Arvind, eight.
B. Muniammah, 50, who has been taking care of Jayasutha since she was two and who is also Meganathan's and Mahaletchumy's grandmother, said the school notified her of the matter just after Chinese New Year.
“Meganathan and Mahaletchumy were both born at Kuala Lumpur Hospital and their parents died when they were young.
“Jayasutha's parents have also passed away and all I have are hospital cards of their mothers going for their pre-natal check-ups,” she said.
R. Mageswary, 34, the mother of the three siblings, said she submitted applications for her children's birth certificates early last month but there was no news yet.
Malaysian Public Service Society president Andrew Raju said the pupils should not be penalised for their parents' oversight.
“I have submitted their applications to the National Registration Department and we don't know how long it is going to take before they are given their birth certificates.
“Whichever way you look at it, the children are the ones who are going to pay the price for this,” he said.
State Education director Abdul Halim Abdul Razak could not be reached for comment.
The Star
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