MIC president S Samy Vellu announced recently that the government has allocated over RM20 million to build and repair Tamil schools involving the rebuilding of 13 schools and the expansion of others.

We welcome this announcement. But why wasn’t this tabled in Parliament for approval and for proper debate and scrutiny? That it is announced now means it is a general elections gimmick and a sweetener to buy votes.

The announcement of this allocation should have been made by the education minister unless Tamil schools have now come under the umbrella of Samy’s ministry.

The Tepi Sungai Tamil school in Klang which was termite infested finally collapsed in 2002. When the school building gave way, Samy immediately went to the school with Kapar MP K Komala Devi and promised an outright grant of RM1.2 million provided the Parents-Teachers Association raise RM100,000. This RM 100,000 was raised by the PTA in 2004 but up until last week, Samy has not fulfilled his promise.

The students are now temporarily housed in a storeroom located in an adjacent building belonging to the Klang Municipal Council. (MPK). Presently, two classes are conducted in one class and there is not even a partition separating one from the other. All the class rooms are very hot as they all do not have ceilings. I spoke to some of the parents and they tell me that their children want to move out to other better schools as the conditions are unbearable.

We urge Samy to list out all the Tamil schools that have been selected for rebuilding and repair works. We will at the next Parliamentary meeting to raise this issue and also ask why no new Tamil schools are being built at all.

We doubt the RM20 million will ever be properly utilised in view of the past cases. Thus, it is incumbent on Samy to get the government to immediately issue tenders and get Indian contractors to do this job.

The government has acknowledged that no new Tamil or Chinese schools would be built under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. Although Tamil schools’ student population has been increasing yearly, there seems to be no corresponding increase in new Tamil schools.

The government must relocate all schools which are built or located near or on graveyards as well as those currently being housed in containers, temporary shelters or shophouses.

Tamil school education is an integral part of the national education system and today some 115,000 students study in 523 Tamil schools throughout the country. Presently, only 362 Tamil schools are partially- aided by the government. Why has MIC failed to make all these schools fully-aided?

The present allocation of RM20 million for Tamil schools is just a cosmetic exercise. In view of the growing interest to study in Tamil, it’s incumbent on the government to build at least 30 new schools every year.

The writer is national vice-chairperson, DAP.