Zahid: Stateless children should have chance to attend school

PUTRAJAYA: Stateless children should be allowed to enrol in school here even if their citizenship application is pending, said Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister said schools should accept such children, whose eligibility to enrol in government schools has been given blanket approval by the Education Ministry.

“The Education Minister recently announced that children whose citizenship application has yet to be approved should be allowed to attend school.

“If parents have problems enrolling their children in certain schools, they should refer to their state education department or the Education Ministry for clarification.

“If the ministry has given blanket approval, then schools should adhere to it,” Dr Ahmad Zahid told a press conference after his ministry’s monthly assembly.

His comments were in response to a report in The Star about adopted child G. Darshana, seven, who was initially denied admission to a school in Seremban.

Darshana does not have a passport and is classified as a non-citizen as her adoptive parents lack information on her biological parents.

Her birth certificate recognises her adoptive parents B. Ganesan, 46, and V. Malliga, 48, as her legal guardians since 2015, but her citizenship application remains pending.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said there were 11 categories of children who could not be issued MyKid identification cards.

“These include adopted children whose citizenship has yet to be approved, children born out of wedlock and children born outside of Malaysia to a non-citizen mother,” he said.