HUNDREDS FAILED TO SIT FOR PMR, SPM
SULABAYAN Assemblyman Datuk Harman Mohammad yesterday disclosed that about 40 percent of the students in SMK Bum-Bum were unable to sit for their PMR and SPM examinations because they do not have the identification card.
“There are about 1,000 students in SMK Bum-Bum and 40 percent of them could not sit for the Government examinations as they have yet to be issued their MyKad,” Harman said when debating the State Budget 2009 yesterday.
According to Harman, the students were unable to get their MyKad because of a new National Registration Department (NRD) regulation insisting that the parent’s marriage certificate be produced when a child applies for the identification document.
“This regulation has caused problems to parents in rural areas, especially those who have been married for a long time as they could have misplaced their marriage certificate,” he said, adding that family in his constituency experienced the inconvenience caused by the NRD regulation.
“However when they went to apply for an identification card for their youngest child, they were told to include their marriage certificate. Since they were unable to do so, the application is still pending until now,” Harman said, adding that the Government, both State and Federal, must address the problem and make it easier for the people, especially those in the rural areas and isolated islands, to obtain their identification documents.
Stressing that it was not his intention to criticise the Government, he said: “This is a very serious matter which needs urgent attention from the Government because students who do not have their identification cards cannot continue their studies.”
Most of them are locals and from poor families, he said and pointed out that without proper education, they cannot improve and would not be able to elevate their family’s status.
“It is my greatest hope that the Government would give due attention to the problem and instruct the relevant agency to act accordingly,” he said.
