KUCHING: Parti Bumi Kenyalang is demanding the police and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) seriously look into the misappropriation of funds meant for education.
Its president, Voon Lee Shan said according to former Education Minister, Maszlee Malik, millions of ringgit, if not billions, have been misappropriated from funds meant for education.
“Mazlee said many reports of misappropriation had been filed while he was education minister, when he was the minister from May 2018 until January 2020 in the former Pakatan Harapan federal government.
“Therefore, we are demanding the police and MACC seriously look into the misappropriated funds. There should not be any fear and favour to pin the culprits down and bring them to justice,” he said in a press statement on Wednesday.
He said the quality of education is the key to prosperity of the country and students should not be deprived of facilities and a proper environment.
“We have too many dilapidated schools with poor facilities, especially in rural areas and these had affected the life of students and teachers.
“For students to excel in studies and for teachers to be able to focus on their task to equip students to excel in their studies, like any other developing country, Malaysia had spent billions of ringgit in past decades but could not find a solution to uplift the standards of education in this country,” he said.
He added the reason is that money which should be used for education had been siphoned or misappropriated by some crooked politicians and business people.
“Poor quality education will produce poor quality lawyers, judges, doctors, engineers, economists and other professionals.
“Professionals produced by poor quality institutions can create chaotic situations affecting the security of the country and also the cause the collapse of the country’s economy.
“We recently came to know a bridge crossing a river in Sarawak collapsed due to poor engineering works,” he claimed.
