Why do Chinese schools get double the funds of Islamic schools, asks Umno Youth

Umno Youth has questioned the government's recent announcement that it is allocating RM15.7 million to Chinese independent schools nationwide, saying each of the 63 schools would receive double the amount allocated to religious institutions.

Urging the government to explain how it arrived at the amount, Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh also called for Chinese schools facing financial problems to be absorbed into the national education system.

He compared the RM15.7 million allocation recently announced by DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke with the RM150 million for Islamic tahfiz and pondok schools announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the PKR congress last month.

He said the 1,276 religious institutions registered with the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) would each receive RM117,500, compared to the RM250,000 that each Chinese independent school would get.

"What are the criteria for determining the amount for religious educational institutions and private Chinese secondary schools?

"If it is based on the number of schools, Umno Youth urges the government to revise the average allocation rate for Chinese independent schools to standardise it with the allocation for religious educational institutions, and the balance should be given to national secondary schools that are for all races and based on the national syllabus," he said.

Akmal said if Chinese independent schools lacked funds, they should be absorbed into the national stream.

"I believe there are more national schools which are poor and in need of financial assistance than Chinese independent schools, which we all know are funded by the private sector without the need for government support," he added.