Free education not really free, says Perak MB

Free education not really free, says Perak MB

By : Brenda Lim

IPOH: Public education should be free from kindergarten to tertiary level, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin said yesterday.

He said this would greatly ease the financial burden on the country's workforce.

He said the impression given to parents was that public education was free but closer inspection revealed miscellaneous fees when registering children in school.

"For Year One students, they might have to pay RM25 to RM30. If you have a child sitting for (the) UPSR (examination), you might end up paying up to RM100," he said at a Workers' Day celebration by the National Union of Employees in Companies Manufacturing Rubber Products here yesterday.

Mohamad Nizar also expressed support for a minimum wage, saying employers should not be allowed to fix wages.
Later, he said the state government would be glad to include minimum wage as a condition for investing in the state, if such a policy were to become law. He also pledged to ensure that employers complied with labour laws, so as to safeguard the rights of workers.

Mohamad Nizar claimed that there were agencies, set up by cronies of the previous state government, which were profiteering at the expense of foreign workers.

"Foreign workers were sent to stay at places unsuitable for human occupation. If this is the treatment we give to our workers, how would others make the decision to invest here?"