MBPJ to implement homestay guidelines beginning Jan 1

Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) will be the first local authority in the state to implement guidelines on homestays from Jan 1 next year.

State culture, tourism, Malay customs and heritage chairman Datuk Abdul Rashid Asari said that MBPJ was in the midst of preparing the documents after holding a seminar on Oct 9 and 10 calling for a registry of such businesses.

“The state, local authorities and Malaysian Institute of Planners are preparing the guidelines.

“The Housing and Local Govern-ment Ministry has proposed a ‘Short Term Accommodation Regulatory Framework’ draft for accommodation with the concept of ‘bed and breakfast’ or ‘short term rental’.

“With the guidelines in place, local authorities or any related party will have authority and a legal reference to allow control and enforce rules for such activity.

“That way, problems such as disturbance and traffic can be resolved, ” he said to a question from Michelle Ng (PH-Subang Jaya).

The state assembly was also told that Selangor will be extending its free tuition programme – Program Tuisyen Rakyat Selangor (PTRS) – to UPSR pupils next year.

Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari said the initiative was to prevent students from dropping out of school during the transition from primary to secondary school.

“PTRS kicked off last year and involved 14,000 academically weak students in Form Five who were taking the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.

“Menteri Besar Incorporated funded 10,000 students. The programme was introduced to ensure that Form Five students, who are academically weak and uncomfortable to go to school fearing bullies or getting scolded, have a support system.

“PTRS also accepted students from poor families, ” he said in reply to questions by Mazwan Johar (PH-Sungai Ramal).

Amirudin said based on statistics from Jan 1 to Oct 23, the state recorded 11,031 cases of dropouts in secondary schools and 1,250 cases in primary schools.

“The reasons cited at secondary schools included stop schooling (10,094), not interested (549), working (183), family problems (123), having difficulty going to school (43), getting married (19), afraid to go to school (11) and poverty (9).

“In the case of primary schools the reasons included stop schooling (863), family problems (198), not interested (128), having difficulty going to school (29), poverty (15), afraid to go to school (8), working (7) and married (2), ” he said.

He added that the state did not have a specific mechanism to help students with financial or citizenship problems.

“However, the state Education Department has programmes for deserving students such as Rancangan Makanan Tambahan, Tabung Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pelajar Miskin and Free Milk Programme, among others.

“Other programmes include Program Ziarah Cakna by the Education Ministry, where the school management visits and explains about the students’ plight to their families and teachers provide counselling for potential dropouts.

“Dropouts are also encouraged to rejoin and submit their application to the state or district education departments, ” he said.