STUDENTS GET ONE YEAR’S GRACE TO SWITCH TO BLACK SHOES
Grace period given to students to avoid burdening parents and for everyone to get used to directive, says minister
THE Education Ministry has decided to give students a one-year grace period to make a complete switch to wearing black shoes to school.
Its minister, Dr Maszlee Malik, said the grace period was given so as not to burden parents and for everyone to get used to the directive.
He said the ministry had no intention of enforcing the rules in a rushed and haphazard manner.
“We understand the concerns raised by all parties.
“That is why we will give students a oneyear grace period instead of enforcing the directive from next year as was announced earlier.”
Maszlee said the ministry understood some parents, especially those from the low-income group, might be burdened by having to buy new shoes for their children.
He said the ministry took note of concerns raised by traders who had stocked up on white school shoes.
“Therefore, no disciplinary action will be taken against students wearing white shoes to school next year”.
Maszlee, who is Simpang Renggam member of parliament, had on Thursday announced that students would be required to wear black shoes to school from next year.
He said this was one of the requests he received from parents. He said students currently wore white shoes and many parents complained that they soiled easily.
However, this has since received mixed reaction, with parents groups saying the ministry should give a grace period before enforcing the directive.
Traders said the directive would affect them, complaining that they did not know how they would clear their stock of white shoes.
The National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Kamarozaman Abd Razak said the grace period would ensure parents, especially those from the low-income group, were not burdened by extra expenditure to buy new school shoes for their children.
He said the ministry must come up with guidelines on the school shoes directive to avoid confusion.
He said the authorities must ensure traders did not resort to profiteering following the directive on black school shoes.
“As it is, a pair of scho ol sho es costs about RM30. I hope the authorities will ensure traders do not take advantage of the new ruling and increase the prices of black school shoes.” Kamarozaman said the authorities needed to look at the pricing of other school items, which he added were costly.