KUALA LUMPUR – The Education Ministry has denied that schools are rejecting registrations of pupils whose parents do not possess a marriage certificate.
Speaking to The Vibes, an officer said that these parents merely need to visit a commissioner for oaths (CO) to make a statutory declaration of their marriage.
“We never turn these pupils away. We will only ask them to contact a CO to get an official document proving that the parents are indeed married.
“It has been the Education Ministry’s policy for years that a marriage certificate be included when registering a pupil,” the officer, who declined to be named, said today.
According to him, this requirement is stated under the Education Regulation (Admission of Students to School) 1998 and has been in force since then.
“It applies to all public schools in the country,” he said, adding that this is to identify the citizenship statuses of a child’s parents, among other things.
The officer was commenting on a statement by Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran who, earlier today, highlighted the plight of a 13-year-old pupil who was denied registration in a school in Petaling Jaya yesterday as her parents do not have a marriage certificate.
Rajiv questioned the need for such a document, considering that the child already possesses a legitimate birth certificate and identification card.
He said such a policy is burdensome and unnecessary, and urged the ministry to do away with the requirement.
He also said that it was common for most families from low-income groups to not register their marriages. In most cases, their children would still have legitimate birth certificates, MyKids and MyKads.
Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin and his deputy Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon could not be reached for comment at the time of writing. – The Vibes, December 30, 2020
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