Parliament news in brief- Dec 1

PH SUGGESTS EDUCATION MINISTRY PREPARE SPECIAL CHANNEL FOR TEACHERS’ FEEDBACK

KUALA LUMPUR -- The Pakatan Harapan (PH) Education Committee has recommended that the Education Ministry (MOE) be more open and prepare a special channel for teachers to provide their feedback.

Its chairman, Dr Maszlee Malik said this follows reports that some teachers were called up by the ministry’s integrity unit for expressing critical opinions regarding teachers’ welfare and workload, syllabus and schedules that were burdensome to students.

"The issues raised by teachers are basic problems that are actually happening on the ground so that higher ups can take note and carry out improvements,” he said in a media conference at the Parliament building today.

He also suggested that teachers channel their views and complaints to the Parliament Education Special Select Committee so that it can be brought to the attention of the Education Ministry.

-- BERNAMA

TWO MINISTERS, TWO DEPUTY MINISTERS DECLARE FOREIGN ASSETS TO MACC

KUALA LUMPUR -- Only two ministers and two deputy ministers have declared their foreign assets and provided copies to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) so far, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said.

In a reply posted on the Parliament website, he said the four were Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz; Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin; Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Santhara Kumar; and Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Lim Ban Hong.

Based on the 2018 code of ethics for administrative personnel and members of Parliament, Wan Junaidi said the declaration of assets, additional property acquisition and disposal of property by administrative personnel and members of Parliament as well as their spouses, children or trustees must be submitted to the prime minister and copied to the MACC chief commissioner.

“Therefore, there are no provisions requiring members of Parliament and administrative personnel to make any declaration to the MACC,” he said in reply to a question by Kasthuriraani Patto (PH-Batu Kawan) regarding the list of names and assets in Ringgit Malaysia of all ministers, deputy ministers and government officials with offshore bank accounts, and whether they are required to declare their assets to the MACC.

-- BERNAMA

445 STUDENTS QUIT SCHOOL TO MARRY THROUGHOUT THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

KUALA LUMPUR -- A total of 445 students, 411 female and 34 male, were found to have quit school on the grounds of getting married for the period of 2022 till 2021. 

Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Idris Ahmad said based on data from the Education Ministry, Sarawak with 183 students, Sabah (86) and Kelantan (43) were the three states with the highest totals.

“Underage marriage applications do not state whether or not the applicant is still a student or has stopped schooling. There are also applications made by guardians of applicants wishing to get married,” he said in an answer posted on the Parliament website today.

He was replying a question by Fuziah Salleh (PH-Kuantan) who wanted to know the number of students who quit school for the purpose of marriage during the pandemic according to religion, race, age, gender and state.

-- BERNAMA

MACC RECEIVED OVER 12,000 TIP OFFS REGARDING CIVIL SERVICE CORRUPTION SINCE 2019

KUALA LUMPUR -- The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) received a total of 12,753 tip offs regarding corruption in the civil service for the period between 2019 and Sept 2021.

Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar  said from the total, 1,416 investigation papers were opened, resulting in 1,365 arrests, 632 charges in court and 273 convictions.

“Not all tip offs received were regarding corruption and fulfilled the criteria set under MACC’s jurisdiction. The investigation papers opened were based on quality information regarding corruption, abuse of power and embezzlement,” he said in an answer posted on the Parliament website today.

He was answering a question by Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (PH-Kapar) who wanted to know the statistics of civil servants’ involvement in corruption according to grade structure and programmes or training conducted to curb corruption and misuse of power among civil servants.

-- BERNAMA