School transfer woes

PARENTS who live a stone’s throw away from a particular school normally feel their children are entitled to be enrolled in that school, especially if they consider that a “good” school.

However, reality can be rather cruel, as some parents have discovered that there is no such thing as “automatic enrolment” into schools that are recognised as Sekolah Kluster Kecemerlangan (SKK) and Sekolah Berprestasi Tinggi (SBT) by the Education Ministry.

Neither does having one’s older children enrolled in the same school guarantee younger siblings a spot in the same school.

Two of Shida Lee’s children were enrolled at SK Taman Tun Dr Ismail 1 (SKTTDI 1), but her youngest son failed to be placed in the same school, forcing him to be enrolled at SK Sungai Penchala, about 3km away from the former.

Lee said despite living in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, her son was denied a place in SKTTDI 1 even after an appeal, causing a lot of stress.

“I noticed there are those who do not live in TTDI that are sending their children here. I live here and yet my son can’t get a placement? Why can’t my third child be in the same school as his sister?” claimed Lee, who added that the appeal process at the education department is exhausting and time consuming.

“My husband and I have to constantly keep tabs of the appeal and we have to go to the education department. We were shocked to see hundreds of parents were also appealing to get a school transfer,” said Lee, who added she would not mind if her son was granted a placement in SK Taman Tun Dr Ismail 2. However, that school was also full.

Student intake: Foziah says that ultimately, the school infrastructure is the limiting factor.

Another mother who wished to be known only as Katijah said it was a nightmare trying to secure a place at SKTTDI 1.

Katijah said she grew up in TTDI and is now living there with her parents and daughter, who completed her preschool in TTDI.

“The appeal process broke my spirit. I was about to quit my job just to focus on her school transfer process. Besides the distance, my daughter was also depressed in the school she was first placed.

“The grandparents were also upset that we can’t get her enrolled in a school in TTDI, despite living there,” said Katijah, who added that she was “overwhelmed” by the appeal process, and wished it was not so taxing on parents.

“I appealed five times for the transfer. I wonder how those living in Kota Damansara and Damansara Jaya managed to secure a place here,” said Katijah, who finally managed to enrol her daughter at SKTTDI 1 late last year.

In Petaling Jaya, parent D. Dennis said his three daughters went to the Assunta primary, but one of his daughters was not placed at SMK Assunta like the other two.

“My daughter and some of her friends were sad because they were separated from their primary school friends,” said Dennis, who added that his third daughter was placed instead at SMK Taman Petaling. In the end, he succeeded in transferring this daughter to join her sisters at Assunta.H.V Hannah felt that educations officials asked too many personal details when she appealed to enrol her daughter in SMK Assunta.

In demand: Chong says he receives numerous complaints over school enrolment issues.

“My husband has abandoned the family and I do not know his whereabouts. However, the education department asked for my divorce certificate. “Why do they need such certs for a school transfer process? I do not even know where he is. Shouldn’t my daughter’s birth certificate and MyKid be sufficient? It was a stressful moment for my family,” she said. She said her daughter finally got her transfer.

Selangor MCA Complaints Bureau chief Kelvin Chong Seng Foo said he has received numerous complaints over the enrolment issues, especially those involving good schools.

He said in Petaling Jaya, schools such as SMK(P) Sri Aman and SMJK Katholik are in demand, and there were cases where students who live just 200 metres away from the school were denied places. Chong urged authorities to widen the “allowable radius” to at least 500m so that those living within the area could be given priority to enrol.

He said parents claim these cluster and high achieving schools only take excellent achievers to maintain their standards. He argued some students are late bloomers and they should get a chance to enter the school of their choice.