Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan received a severe blow from Penang today for allegedly keeping mum on the fate of SJKT Sungai Bakap.

The 70 year-old school, with a student population of about 180, faces eviction as it sits on a 0.5 acre private land belonging to the Kee Kongsi.

“Kamalanathan is a pathetic deputy education minister. We have a deputy education minister who doesn’t know anything, why was he even appointed?” fumed Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, who oversees the education portfolio in the state executive committee.

“He should resign if he cannot do anything, if he cannot deliver. He should also stop kissing the hands of Deputy Prime Minister. Muhyiddin Yassin and look into the plight of Tamil schools,” Ramasamy said in a press conference today.

Ramasamy ( right ) said neither Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak nor his cabinet is interested in  focussing on education, which is one of the opportunities for the marginalised Indian community to seek upward mobility.

“What we see more today are religious departments, as in Jais (Selangor Islamic Religious Department) raiding Hindu temples, snatching bodies at funerals, snatching brides during a wedding, and we don’t know what will happen next,” he said.

Ramasamy said the school has been under tremendous pressure since 2009, as the Kee Kongsi has sent seven letters pressuring it to relocate as the owner plan to develop the land.

“We have also outlived their generosity and it is also not fair for them,” he said.

“We are not blaming the Kee Kongsi because they have been very tolerant with the school. But what if they get a court order to remove the school, although perhaps they will not do it?” Ramasamy asked.

3.4 acre area in Seberang Perai allocated

Ramasamy said the Education Ministry had in a letter dated March 19 last year said it was allocating an area of 3.4 acres in Seberang Perai, which is under its ownership, to the school.

It is also learnt that the Education Ministry is allocating RM3.5 million under a 2013 special fund to the building of the school.

“It is 2014 now and Kamalanathan has not given any official reply. The school can’t do anything now, it cannot expand, cannot repair classrooms or toilets and cannot expand its student population,” Ramasamy said.

“Why the delay? The state government has also been pressured by the school and parents. If we have allocated state land, we can act but the new site belongs to the federal government,” he added.

Ramasamy said mother tongue education is a significant policy of Pakatan Rakyat and there is proof that students do better in their own languages.

“The policies in national schools have gone haywire, although we understand that it is the choice of the parents to place their children in such schools,” he quipped.