Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, at the Buloh Kasap DAP Branch dinner to commemorate the 25th DAP Anniversary at Buloh Kasap, Segamat, on Friday, 4th October 1991 at 9 am
Eleven Chinese Primary schools and 28 Tamil primary schools were closed down in the past 10 years
I have just received an answer to a parliamentary question which I asked in the June/July meeting of Parliament and find that in the past 10 years, 11 Chinese primary schools and 28 Tamil primary schools were closed down because of shortage of pupils.
There are at present 209 Chinese primary schools and 191 Tamil primary schools which have less than 100 students, and their distribution by state is as follows:
Number of SRJK© and SRJK(T) with less than 100 pupils
Negeri SRJK© SRJK(T)
Johore 60 39
Kedah 25 22
Kelantan – 1
Malacca 14 10
Negri Sembilan 20 17
Penang 7 8
Pahang 13 14
Perak 36 59
Perlis 1 –
Sabah 21 –
Sarawak – –
Selangor 8 19
Trengganu 4 –
Wilayah – 2
Of the 11 Chinese primary schools closed down in the past 10 years because of shortage of pupils, three were from Johore, two from Pahang, one from Perak, three from Sabah, one from Trengganu and one from Federal Territory. Of the 28 Tamil primary schools closed dwon for shortage of pupils, five were from Johore, three from Kedah, one from Malacca, one from Negri Sembilan, two from Penang, eight from Perak and eight from Selangor.
These statistics should be a matter of concern for the Chinese community, in particular the Chinese educational circles, especially as the Ministry of Education is so reluctant to approve the establishment of new Chinese primary schools in newly built-up areas to meet the needs of the pupils and parents.
DAP calls on the Education Ministry to make public the number of new Chinese primary schools it intends to build under the Sixth Malaysia Plan
DAP calls on the Education Ministry to make public the number of new Chinese primary schools it intends to build under the Sixth Malaysia Plan.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Education should make clear its intentions with regard to the 209 Chinese primary schools and 191 Tamil primary schools in the country which at present have less than 100 pupils, and how many it would close down by the end of the national Development Policy in the Year 2,000.
I am sure that the educational planners in the Barisan nasional government have specific targets and objectives with regard to these 209 Chinese primary schools and 191 Tamil primary schools currently with less than 100 pupils, and the people are entitled to know the Education Ministry pans on this matter.