YOURSAY | ‘These schools are meant to help the poor, those from rural areas and the disenfranchised.’

Maszlee: B40 quota for boarding schools won't affect top students

Khalid alWalid: The 60 percent quota for students from the bottom 40 percent households (B40) income group in boarding schools is a good move by the Education Ministry.

It has been a long time since the original objective of boarding schools and Mara Junior Science Colleges was hijacked by the Umno elite.

Rich Malays have been sending their children to boarding schools. The government should allocate the seats to the real poor, regardless of race.

Anon: Yes, I think this is a wonderful policy by Education Minister Maszlee Malik.

Go back to the original aim of boarding schools, which is to help the poor, those from rural areas and the disenfranchised students. Get them to break the chain of poverty.

It is not meant for children of rich parents who have already benefitted from 50 years of the New Economic Policy (NEP). They ought to be able to support their children like the rest of us do.

OceanMaster: Fully residential schools in Malaysia were originally meant for bright students from low-income families to be given an opportunity to excel in both academic and non-academic areas.

The downside is that the enrolment in these schools only prioritised one community, and simply became a breeding ground for single-track minds who are left unexposed to other cultures.

Maszlee should not only reset the boarding school terms of reference to its original intent, but also move away from a racially-skewed student enrolment to one that is based on the merits of the students from low-income group.

Anonymous 770241447347646: The poor will always be at a disadvantage due to their circumstances. This is a good step. Education is one way of getting out of the poverty cycle.

The children that come from poor families can later lift up their siblings or parents. The only request is that besides the poor Malay students, keep a certain quota for children of other races who are also really in need.

Not all of these children find avenues of scholarships or financial help. Even those who excel in their studies are given little in terms of opportunity.

We need to rise up together in every area, be it the economy, education, health or housing. Let us be there for those in real need.

Kahlil Gibran: How many children of professionals get Mara scholarships? So many of them are the children of doctors, top civil servants, GLC heads, etc.

Just see how taxpayers’ money is being abused. Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng keeps saying the government has no money, and he allocated RM2 billion for Mara scholarships in the national budget.

If the rich want good boarding schools, then there are many private options available. Taxpayers’ money is not there to fund the rich or the middle-class.

Caripasal: Every school can provide a good education if our system is totally reformed.

But stop hiding behind the B40 to implement racial policies. This will only cause the selection criteria to be biased and opaque. Only those from certain ethnic groups will get the allocation, even among the B40.

A handful of places may be given to non-bumiputera to create the false impression that every race is taken care of.

Boarding schools should be reserved for students based on merit, with only a small percentage given to those from the B40.

Fantastic4: Indeed, top students will do well even in kampung schools. Poor students can enhance their performance if we have the right curriculum in all schools.

Rupert16: Are these boarding schools open to all races in the B40 group or only to cater for a particular race? Please clarify, Maszlee.

Oriole: How did this system get so messed up that the minister has to plead with the rich entitled boors for education for the poor?

What about the feelings of the Chinese, MCA asks Dr M

Jianzhi: The communalists like MCA are trying to turn the United Education Certificate (UEC) recognition into a racial issue.

They are no different from the Umno and PAS communalists who turned ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) into a racial issue.

Indeed, UEC recognition has to take into consideration the feelings of the Malays whose minds have been poisoned by years of communal politicking. What Mahathir said is a fact.

Sure, the feelings of the Chinese has to be taken into consideration. But I know that the Chinese are a pragmatic people – they are resourceful and can survive with their UEC qualification despite it not being recognised by the government.

I despise politicians who try to manipulate the feelings of the Chinese. They will not succeed and they will continue to be rejected by the Chinese community. We can see through their hypocrisy.

Thana55: Focus on making the national education system world-class, instead of vernacular schools.

These schools are a stumbling block to national unity which is desperately needed in multiracial Malaysia.

Let us not come up with a solution worse than the problem that we are trying to resolve.

Anonymous_2a570a31: Forget about getting recognition from the government. UEC graduates have been doing well with the recognition accorded by reputable overseas universities, which ranked way, way higher than our local universities.

Let the quality of UEC graduates speak for itself in the private sector. UEC does not need government recognition to move forward.

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