School is so near and yet so far
I’VE been living in the Kasawari area of Bandar Puchong Jaya since 2003. SJK (C) Ladang Harcroft started construction around 2006 and was completed about a year later. The school, in Jalan Kasawari 11, is about 100m from my house in Jalan Kasawari 9.
I tried to register my second daughter with the school in 2008 for enrolment in 2010, but was told to register only in March this year for the second batch as her mother is a foreigner. I followed their instruction.
By Goh Hoong Ling, Puchong (The Star)
There was no news from the school until October. I went to the school and was told that the list for the first batch was already out, but the fate of the second batch would be known only during year-end school holidays.
I checked with Jabatan Pelajaran Negeri Selangor (JPNS) and was directed to the Petaling Perdana branch, and registered once again. No news again so I went to Harcroft on Dec 7.
I was told the JPNS assigned my daughter to SJK(C) in Sungai Way. I was stunned!
I went to Sungai Way immediately and requested a transfer back to Harcroft, and then proceeded to Petaling Perdana again to submit the application.
Harcroft is only one minute’s walking distance away, but Sungai Way is about 20 to 30 minutes by car without traffic jams and one hour or more with jams.
I need some answers from the school and the authority:
> My daughter is a Malaysian citizen, although her mother is a foreigner. Will that affect her status as a Malaysian citizen? She is going to school, not her mother!
> How can the school or the JPNS “classify” children who are all Malaysians into two categories (batches)? How many categories do we have? What is “1Malaysia”?
> According to news reports, Harcroft took in about 420 new students. Can anyone tell me where these 420 students live? Do they live within 99m from the school?
Why did Harcroft not inform me at the outset about the rejection (JPNS letter dated Nov 6 when I went to the school on Dec 7)?
House phone number, mobile phone number and even a stamped, self-addressed envelope were given during registration in March. The delay has been a month and I’ve lost the early chance to appeal for transfer back to Harcroft.
Unfair, unfair and unfair! A nearly seven-year-old little Malaysian girl is rejected by a school only 100m or less away!
I write this to express my disappointment.
