RM3.5bill slashed from education, training

Amindst the fanfare over the abolition of all primary and secondary school fees, DAP’s Serdang Member of Parliament Teo Nie Ching has highlighted what she said PM Najib Abdul Razak had failed to mention - that almost RM4 billion has been slashed from the federal government’s total development expenditure for education and training.

Teo - who is her party’s assistant national publicity secretary - said the reduction amounts to nearly 30 percent of the 2010 budget announced by Najib, who is also finance minister.

According to the numbers released yesterday, the amount foregone in the move to slash school fees is RM150 million.

RM1.9 billion, meanwhile, has been allocated for all schools, including mission and vernacular schools, while another RM1 billion has been set aside for the betterment of schools premises (RM500 million for SRK, RM100 million for SRJK (Chinese), RM100 mil SRJK (Tamil), RM10 million for mission schools, RM100 million for Sekolah Agama Bantuan, RM100 million to MRSM - Mara secondary schools).

Teo said in the district under the authority of the Klang Municipal Council alone.

According to the guidelines set out by the Department of Town and Country Planning, Peninsula Malaysia, areas falling under the Klang Municipal Council alone will need 27 new schools given the increased population.

This is because the guidelines stipulate a primary school for areas with 7,500 people, and a secondary school for those with a population of 15,000, said Teo.

“In line with this ratio, we need 9 new secondary schools and 18 primary schools by the year 2015 in the areas that fall under the authority of Majlis Perbadanan Kajang.” she added in a statement.
                                  
A total allocation of RM50.2 billion has been set aside for education in 2012.

In addition, private schools are slated to get 70% income tax break; 100% tax allowance for up to five years, double deduction for overseas promotional expenses to attract more foreign students and import duty and sales tax exemptions on all educational equipment.

There is also a tax break for donations to mission schools and places of worship, and double tax break for companies that give internships, international career fairs and scholarships.