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KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has been suggested to set a price cap for the Parents and Teachers Association (PIBG) fees based on the parents’ ability to pay.
National Parents and Teachers Association (PIBGN) president Assoc Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Ali Hassan said this would help prevent parents from being burdened by excessive fees in certain schools, especially in urban areas.
“The ministry should come out with guidelines on the fees by taking into account the location and type of school as well as the parents’ ability to pay.
“The ministry can also make exceptions for parents with many children or are from the lower income group (B40),” he told Bernama when commenting on Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik’s statement yesterday that the ministry would not standardise the PIBG fees nationwide.
Meanwhile, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) president, Kamarozaman Abd Razak, has suggested that a cap of RM50 be set for the PIBG fees, saying it was fair and not too taxing.
On the ministry’s assurance that there would be no overcrowding of students in regular schools now that priority to study in fully residential schools (SBP) would be given to those from the B40 group and rural areas, Kamarozaman said the highest number of students in each class thus far was 40, which he considered to be sufficient.
However, the appropriate ratio for effective teaching is 25 to 30 students per teacher.
“If there are more than 40 students per class, we hope the ministry will speed up the process of increasing the number of teachers so as to lighten their burden as well as to facilitate the learning process for the children,” he said. — Bernama
