The Education Ministry's decision to leave the case involving SJK Damansara to the police is "harsh" and would not be accepted by the people, said a leader of a Chinese education movement today.

According to a report in ChinaPress.com this afternoon, Deputy Education Minister Hon Choon Kim said that the police will temporary manage the school starting from tomorrow.

The school became embroiled in a controversy when the 1,400 students there were ordered to move to SJK (C) Phui Choy (2) in Damansara Utama when the new school term started on Wednesday. But more than 100 pupils refused to move.

The Education Ministry has also decided to stop the operation of SJK Damansara and will not send any teachers to the school.

The report said after the school's takeover by the police, the police will seal the premises and disallow anyone, including the parents and the students, to enter the school.

It added that from tomorrow, any issue related with the SJK Damansara will have nothing to do with the Education Ministry, and everything will be left to the police.

However, Dong Zong deputy chairman and United Chinese Schools Association of Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan chairman Dr Yap Sin Tian said the Education Ministry's move to involve the police to seal the school was a "harsh" action and will not solve the problem.

Call for more discussions

He stressed that there should be further talks between the parents and the ministry.

"If the ministry has strong reasons (for moving the school), they can propose it, and not resort to asking the police to come in. The people will not agree with it," Yap said.

Hon was quoted in a Sinchew-i.com report as saying the students who do not report to the new school by next Monday will be considered as having played truant.

If after 31 days the pupils do not report to the new school, the students will be considered as having voluntarily withdrawn from the school, Hon added.

Yap described the decision as irrational as there are more than 100 students who want to stay at the present school.

"The villagers are poor people. They (Education Ministry) didn't send the teachers and did not take into consideration of the plight of local people. Instead they resorted to punishing the students," he said.

He suggested that Education Ministry officials should come to visit the students at the present school at Damansara New Village.

"They need to consider the parents' problems and respect their decision," said Yap.

Being unable to send any teachers is not a good reason when there are more than 100 Chinese 'mini' primary schools all over the country with less than 100 students each, all having headmasters and teachers, said Yap.

This morning, 131 students reported at the present school, insisting they wanted to stay put at the 70-year-old school.

Action according to Education Act

Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya Utara Member of Parliament (MCA) Chew Mei Fun said that the Deputy Education Minister was acting according to the Education Act.

She said that the decision was based on the opinions collected from various parties, and should be followed.

"The school is a fully aided school and belongs to the Education Ministry," Chew said, pointing out that of the 32,000 square feet of the land, 28,000 square feet belonged to the government.

On whether the police have the right to manage the school, she said this question should be directed to the Education Ministry.

Action Committee To Preserve the Old School chairman Ronnie Liu said the premises of the school belongs to the Chinese community because the school was built by the community from donations.

"The ministry should not force the parents to send their kids to the new school and punish the students who want to stay. They are suppressing the people," Liu stressed.

"They could not provide any plan for the existing land, so why should they force all the students to move?" Liu said.

SJK Damansara sits on a 0.8 acre piece of land and was promised a 5.6 acre land in Tropicana for relocation - a 15 to 20 minutes' drive away - just before the last general elections in 1999.

However, up till today, the new school has yet to be built as it is supposed to be under the Eighth Malaysia Plan.