KUALA LUMPUR – The decision not to renew the land leases for mission schools contradicts an assurance given by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when he was education minister, said a prominent lawyer today.
Derek Fernandez, in a statement, said federal land agencies seem to be making unilateral moves without referring to the cabinet when deciding on these schools’ status.
The recent revelation by Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa that he was not informed about the matter regarding Convent Bukit Nanas’ (CBN) land lease raises concerns about the formulation and implementation of federal government land, and education policies for mission schools, said Fernandez.
“It appears, as reported in the media, that the policy purportedly used to justify the non-renewal of the CBN lease by some federal land agencies was not one formulated at the cabinet level, and may have contradicted the earlier, publicly declared policy by then deputy prime minister and education minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, as reported in The Star on January 25, 2013.”
It was reported that Muhyiddin said the Education Ministry had no objections to extending the leases for mission schools, so long as it was for the purpose of education.
Additionally, it was reported that the then education director-general, Tan Sri Abdul Ghafar Mahmud, said a circular would be sent to all state education directors, telling them that mission school authorities should be consulted when appointing school heads.
“Since that date, there appears to have been no publicly announced change in policy,” said Fernandez.
“Any such change would have to be made by the cabinet after considering all the factors and the input from stakeholders, since the mission schools would have taken steps in line with that policy.
“Certainly, it is not within the power of federal land agencies or even a single ministry itself to change such policies without cabinet approval."
Praising the government’s decision today to extend CBN’s land lease, he said: “The prime minister and cabinet are to be commended on their timely and welcome intervention into the non-renewal of the lease for CBN.”
He said it is “proper” for the prime minister and cabinet to intervene and reverse the decision of the federal land commissioner, and grant an extension of the school’s lease.
“This is consistent with the lauded policy of the government for mission schools to have a role in nation-building, a role they continue to perform with dedication and distinction.”
In a statement earlier today, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that SMK CBN has been granted another 60 years on its land lease, which had been due to expire on September 6.
It said the government took into consideration the application by the school’s governing body to have the lease extended.
The all-girls school was established in 1899. The Ruler in Council in 1961 granted the school a state lease.
In 2017, the school applied to renew the lease. It received a letter, dated December 18, 2020, only in January this year, informing that the lease would not be extended. – The Vibes, April 22, 2021
