Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, has announced the opening of a new Tamil school with cutting-edge design and learning facilities.
“The menteri besar knows the needs of the Indian community … they want two things – schools and temples, the other things are bonuses,” The Sun Daily quoted Najib as saying at the launch of the school.
The school, named SJKT Bandar Sri Sendayan, includes a state-of-the-art library with a garden, an auditorium, a counselling room, a pre-school, a computer lab and classroom designs based on research on how colour schemes can improve learning.
In his speech, Najib pointed out that his government had never marginalised any community in Malaysia and said his (BN) party that was “inclusive, just and progressive in nature”.
“This is the way of the BN. I assume that what’s being done in Negeri Sembilan is in line with what I am doing as BN chairman and prime minister,” Najib said.
Malaysia’s Indian community has received various benefits, including huge allocations for Tamil schools amounting to RM1 billion since 2012 compared with the aid under a prime minister who had administered for 22 years.
In recent years, the country’s Tamil schools have been given upgrades. In Negeri Sembilan, RM45 million has been spent to upgrade Tamil schools. There have also been significant improvements in Tamil schools’ teaching and learning.
The school was first built in 1951 in Linggi, also in Negri Sembilan, as a wooden building with one classroom to accommodate 47 students and one teacher.
In 1978, a new building was built on 0.101 hectares of land with two classrooms to accommodate 30 pupils.
The school was later relocated to Bandar Sri Sendayan in 2017, and was erected on 2.428 hectares with 12 classrooms for 162 pupils and 14 teachers.
The original version of this story appeared in The Sun Daily
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