Malaysian state grants $5.2 million for Tamil schools
By IANSFriday, April 16, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia’s Selangor state has set aside an additional $5.2 million for the development of 97 Tamil schools in the next five years, executive councillor Xavier Jayakumar announced Friday.
Twelve new kindergartens would also be built within Tamil schools this year, Tamil daily Makkal Osai quoted Jayakumar, himself an ethnic Indian, as saying.
He said the state had so far granted $1.24 million (RM 4 million) to Tamil schools with about $122,690 (RM 522,000) distributed through parent-teacher associations.
He said that last year, 15 new kindergartens were built in 10 Tamil schools.
Jayakumar said a site had also been identified in Taman Sentosa, Klang, to build another Tamil school.
Tamils form a bulk of the ethnic Indian population of 1.7 million that form seven percent of Malaysia’s multi-racial population.
