மாநில நிதியை நேரடியாக தமிழ் பள்ளிகளுக்கு வழங்க பெற்றோர் ஆசிரியர் சங்கங்கள் முழு ஆதரவு

Selangor state exco Dr Halimah Ali said that state government allocations to help raise Tamil school education will no more be managed by Xavier Jeyakumar but herself.
She said this after a meeting with parents of Tamil school students who were unhappy that the state government allocated RM1.6m to three NGOs to run the Tamil School Programmes.The meeting was also attended by the three NGOs, Jeyakumar, the exco in charge of Indian affairs, Kelana Jaya MP Low Goh Burne and Kapar MP S Manickavasagam.Halimah explained that Jeyakumar was given the mandate to manage the allocation because he had volunteered to do so although she was the exco in charge of education.Whenever the allocation issue was raised at state exco meetings, Halimah said Jeyakumar said there were no complaints from the parents and or the NGOs."I'm here to tell you that I had never met with you, the Tamil school parents before," Halimah told the parents. "This is my first time and the time has come now for me to take charge."She said that will raise this matter at the next state exco meeting and then call for another meeting with the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) chairmen.Scuffle between rival factionsHalimah, the state exco for education, said if Tamil schools faced problems in getting access to the allocation, they can apply to the state government online.She said the government has yet to decide if the RM1.6m allocation for the Tamil School Programmes will continue to be channeled to the three NGOs."We will discuss this at our next exco meeting," she said.A slight scuffle broke out during the meeting last Saturday when rival factions traded barbs and criticised each other.It started when MP Low asked representatives from the three NGOs the reason for not acknowledging the contributions of Pakatan Rakyat leaders in their souvenir programmes.Educational Welfare and Research Foundation (EWRF) special adviser S Pasupathi, who attempted to answer the question, was interupted by Low.Fracas brought under controlThe situation become chaotic and supporters of the both sides began shouting and heckling at each other.When Jeyakumar tried to intervene, he was told off by several angry parents. S Kumaravel, the Midlands Tamil School PTA chairman came to Jeyakumar's rescue and in the process pushed Low who was standing near the edge of stage.S Murali, the president of Tamil Schools' Parent's Association of Selangor (TSPAS), then lunged at Kumaravel who had to fend off a group of PKR members who joined in the fracas.The situation was brought under control by a group of parents. Low, Manickavasagam and Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad were not happy with situation.Order reigned when Halimah asked Jeyakumar and the three NGOs representatives to leave the hall with their supporters.Almost every parent at the meeting urged the state government to freeze the RM1.6m annual allocation which is channelled to the three NGOs.The state government allocates RM4m for Tamil schools annually. RM2.4m is given directly to Tamil schools while the remaining RM1.6m is given to the three NGOs to run the Tamil School Programmes.Besides the Educational Welfare and Research Foundation (EWRF), the other two NGOs are the Tamil Foundation (TF) and Child Information Learning Development Centre (CHILD).The issue of the RM1.6 m allocation came to a boil when Murali, the TSPAS chairman, accused the the three NGOs of mismanaging the funds.
Jeyakumar: Let exco decideWhen contacted, Jeyakumar said the decision on who handles allocations for Tamil schools will have to be made by the state exco.“I was mandated to manage Tamil schools in an exco meeting... a decision must be made at the next exco meeting before Halimah can take over this matter,” he said.He said that Halimah cannot make a decision on the matter on her own. Jeyakumar is the state exco in charge of estate workers and poverty.
The next exco meeting, due later this week, is expected to be a heated affair with both Halimah and Jeyakumar reporting on the status of allocations for Tamil schools in the state, as well as on what had transpired at the Saturday meeting.