YOURSAY | A child should not be deprived of an education

YOURSAY | ‘It seems the sins of the father are being visited upon the child.’

Denied entry to school, 10-year-old writes to PM for help

Vijay47: I don’t think anyone disputes the fact that her father bears some blame for the predicament that Shivaani is in now.

For whatever reason - ignorance, irresponsibility, or sheer disinterest, the requirements regarding proper registration of her birth certificate had not been fulfilled.

Sure, take him out and shoot him.  

But it looks as though the sins of her father are being visited upon the child.

Is the Education Ministry such an inanimate creature that it can not employ basic intelligence to resolve a problem that is not all that uncommon and cannot be said to be all that insurmountable?

Of course, the easy way out is to throw her under the bus.

Apanama is back: From the above news, I presume both parents are Malaysian citizens, but they did not register their marriage with the National Registration Department (NRD).  

With the birth certificate having her mother’s name, not the father’s, it is a tricky issue here.  

Unless the separated wife helps to solve this.

The issue here is the NRD officer will not be able to know whether Shivaani is their child or not without their marriage certificate.  

There are several cases similar to this out there.

The parents married at the temple but did not register their marriage with the proper authorities.

Once the child is born, and they are separated, the single parent will face problems with getting a MyKad for the child.

Let’s see how Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, and even  Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail will solve this issue.

Shivaani must get the education she deserves. 

MarioT: I do not know if it is sheer ignorance about not registering for the marriage or just a “tidak apa” (don’t care) attitude.

This leads to dire consequences for the family to lead a normal life in the country of their birth when essential documents to prove their citizenship are not available.

I sympathise with the child who is unable to get enrolled in school by no fault of hers. I hope some kind of allowance could be made for the child to continue her education.

Apa pun boleh: This is clearly the fault of the parents.

Why make it a sob story now when the child is due for a MyKad? What were the parents doing all this while?

The claim that his wife has left him is a lame excuse.

By right, such parents do not deserve any sympathy as they have caused their misery.

But in the Malaysian spirit, the innocent child Shivaani should not be made to suffer due to her parents’ irresponsibility.

I hope that United Social Welfare Organisation president P Manivanan, who is handling this case, and the Education Department will be able to resolve this matter amicably.

Falcon: A never-ending tragedy!  

Yet, we hear loud noises of humanitarian assistance, ethnic cleansing, genocide, justice, and fair play, and it goes on by Peninsular Malaysia’s politicians.

Whether it is about race-based parties, NGOs on global issues and manufactured crises and the never-ending list of political police reports that are vexatious, frivolous, and weaponising.

What a really sad and sick situation in our backyard!

Gosh, there are even several insensitive, inhumane comments here! Just unbelievable! What sin did this child commit?

However, things like this will not stop grandstanding speeches abroad and at the United Nations.

Do international news organisations care to do a special report?

Anon25: Based on the father’s testimony, this girl is certainly a citizen.

She has a birth certificate showing her to be the child of a citizen even though that person was not married.

The money paid to the primary school should be refunded.

She should be admitted to school while the authorities argue about documentation.

The prime minister should please take note of her letter and act immediately.

YellowCat1156: I feel something is missing in this story.

I will be the devil's advocate here and say that sometimes Malaysians take their citizenship for granted.

No time to register, forget to register, and so on, not realising how this is going to impact their lives and that of their loved ones in the future.

I would accept that this can happen to those living in the vast interiors and have access issues, such as the Orang Asli. But Senawang?

Again, there must be more to this issue.

PinkHornet5914: This is a problem with the parent, especially the father.

You’re aware of the registration issue for the child’s birth. What have you done in these 10 years?

As a father, it’s your responsibility to prepare all this for the small child. Due to your actions, the child has to suffer.

Beman: Every child has the right to education.

Let’s see how Anwar responds to this young girl’s letter.  

If he can find time to officiate a religious conversion ceremony or to pose as the saviour of the Palestinians, he should not have a problem doing something for the girl and do more to address the issue of people becoming stateless just because of red tape.

RR: There will always be odd cases like Shivaani’s.

The senior officers at the Education Ministry should be trained to use their discretion to solve such problems.

This is not a daily occurrence and the number is negligible compared to the thousands of illegal immigrants in the country. Let sanity and justice prevail.

It is not the duty of a prime minister to deal with such a trivial matter.

Education Ministry officials should handle the matter effectively.

To deprive a little girl of an education is a sin. This decision should not occur again under the Madani government.

Koel: Does the prime minister respond to an Indian child?  

But there also seems to be a problem amongst some segments of the population about the necessity of registration of births, marriages, and so on.

This has probably also contributed to some of the statelessness amongst Malaysians.

What programmes and urgent Parliament Service Acts are there by the government and the civil service to address this problem?

Are any NGOs able to start these programmes?

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