Parents furious over school forms
Many parents are furious over schools requiring students to submit highly confidential information to the school with reference to income, the pay slip, income tax and other details.Those who have neither a pay slip nor a J-form must “provide an Income Declaration Form verified by the employer, Commissioner for Oaths, a Justice of the Peace, a village head” or other community head.
Other details requested are the parents’ employer’s name, the address, their income tax number, basic monthly pay, and other information relating to the child’s transportation to school.
Describing the information as confidential, the parents questioned the necessity of the schools acquiring the information. Personally I know of one institute which using the information acquired through a ’survey’ became part of the data base of a company which sent advertisement brochures. This information can be sold. Of course I am not saying that they are but parents have a right to be concerned.
Yours truly after registering for a new hp line, received calls from a vacation holiday plan, an insurance canvasser and a credit card salesman. When I insisted on knowing the source of his information, he said his ‘friend’ gave it to him.
To what purpose will the schools use the information? Of course, there is a rationale for the schools to warrant asking for the information. It is required if the student is asking for a loan or a scholarship. But how many of them actually apply for such loans and scholarships or free text books? There is also a software called MMS, or Maklumat Murid Sekolah which requires information such as this and perhaps the schools felt they wanted supporting documents to verify the truth.
Describing the forms as more detailed than a morgage application, an irate parent fumed over the intrusion of privacy by the said schools. The Education Ministry usually asks for such details only if parents are applying for various funds or schemes, such as the text book loan scheme. But parents who complained to the New Straits Times yesterday said they had not applied for anything.
Parents question the necessity of this ‘veiled threat’ on the form : with reference to a clause which says, “Failure of parents or guardians to complete this form with the supporting documents will affect the management of student affairs”. They worry their kids will be at a losing end if the schools register their non-cooperation as non-compliance.
This is practiced only in certain schools. Education Ministry Schools Division director Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim said parents should calm down as it was a mistake.
She said the forms were meant to standardise the process for requesting loans or funds. The clause on submitting a pay slip or J-form does not apply to those not doing so.
“I have just issued a reminder to school heads not to compel parents to provide their confidential documents. Parents have to fill in the form, but if they are not applying for any funds, that clause referring to the pay slips does not apply to them,” she said.
Thank you Education Ministry Schools Division director Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim for clarifying the matter. This is basically a storm in a teacup. Over-zealous administrators in the service .
This issue also highlights the failure of the schools to understand the psyche of the parents, the community and the poor public relations between the community and the schools. Such high-handed clause like ‘Failure of parents or guardians to complete this form with the supporting documents will affect the management of student affairs’ – should not have been made at all. I understand what the clause meant but it could have been better worded
After all, it was irrelevant to the parents who are not applying for loans, free text books or a scholarship. Can you imagine if all parents go to Commissioner for Oaths, a Justice of the Peace, a village head” or other community head, there will be long queues and these people can earn RM5.00 per document. These same employers, Justice of the Peace, village heads will have their work disrupted with all and sundry coming to their office. They have no choice but to be courteous too. In the end, all these ‘hoo-haa’ generated information will just lie in the school records.
Are the forms requesting such information for primary, secondary or tertiary education? With regards to the “distribution” of your personal info is there any way you could draft them a letter requesting these people to stop all contact (e.g., via phone calls or letters) with you?
i don’t think it matters the level of the institution .the student affairs dept do need some of the more relevent info…i don’t understand yr second question though
Sorry when I was asking the 2nd question I was thinking more about how to stop those pesky solicitors. (I got the impression you weren’t too thrilled to receive calls from “vacation holiday plan, an insurance canvasser and a credit card salesman” after you signed up for the new hp line).
Fire horse : Some of the sales folk can be very demanding
and hard to shake off. It is not nice to be rude so it is difficult for me to turn them down.Thanks for coming to my site.