Tamil schools throughout the country need to be brought out of the darkness they have wallowed in for countless Deepavallis by the granting of fully-aided status to them by the government next year, non-governmental organisation Police Watch and Human Rights Committee has pleaded - for the fourth time.

The body' legal advisor, lawyer P Uthayakumar, said the measure would help alleviate the vernacular schools from the quagmire they were currently mired in and have been for decades.

He said he had faxed a letter dated Nov 8, his fourth in two weeks, to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein Onn drawing their attention to the dire straits the nation's Tamil schools were in.

A copy of his letter was made available to malaysiakini . In it, Uthayakumar highlighted the case of a school in Johor Baru hit by floods late last month.

Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (T) Mount Austin was hit by floods for the twentieth time and on all occasions, empty promises were made by the state education department to relocate the school.

On Nov 3, in response to the incident, Johor MIC chief KS Balakrishnan, had taken the department to task for not providing a temporary site for the school's 86 pupils even after four days.

Uthayakumar also recounted media reports on the problems involving Tamil vernacular schools - which total 376 nationwide - and expressed regret that '... despite 47 years of independence and the country's development, Tamil schools have been neglected'.

"Why this discrimination when it comes to even the basic education of poor, innocent and unassuming (Tamil) primary school students? Their predicament as a weak minority must not be taken advantage of by a fair and judicious government," Uthayakumar said.

Unsafe premises

In other untoward developments, the Public Works Department last month declared unsafe 10 Tamil schools in Negeri Sembilan while parents of students of a 60-year old Tamil school building in Petaling Jaya are worried that the schools' termite infested ceiling might give way at anytime.

The cost of repairs to the PJ school amount to RM40,000 which neither the school nor the parents can raise. The students at the school mostly come from surrounding squatter areas with parents from the lower-income groups.

"We humbly bring to your kind attention to all that is happening because Tamil schools are not fully aided but only partially aided by the government. There is also no legal provision in Malaysia for partially-aided schools," Uthayakumar said in his missive to Abdullah.

He added that according to the Federal Constitution and the Education Act 1996, all schools in the country, irrespective of their type, should be fully aided.

"Due to the urgency of this matter, we humbly call upon your goodself as a caring and reform oriented prime minister, to not further prolong the agony of poor and underprivileged Tamil school pupils and announce (the conversion to full-aid) on Deepavali Day tomorrow to bring cheer to these pupils," Uthayakumar urged.