Kamalanathan wants written confirmation on Bumiputera equity rule for tuition centres

Former deputy education minister P Kamalanathan has urged the education ministry to issue written confirmation that the 30% Bumiputera equity requirement for tuition centres has been removed.

Welcoming the ministry’s decision to remove the requirement, Kamalanathan said it should clarify whether the change applies to both new applications and existing centres seeking licence renewal.

He also urged the ministry to update all relevant guidelines on its portal to prevent confusion.

“The ministry’s decision to remove the 30% Bumiputera equity requirement for private educational institutions under its purview… is the right one for Malaysian education,” he said in a statement.

Kamalanathan also said tuition centres should be assessed based on teacher quality, student safety and learning outcomes rather than the ethnic composition of their shareholding.

The former Hulu Selangor MP thanked the education ministry and the investment, trade and industry ministry for listening to operators, parents and other stakeholders, and for keeping the education sector open to those who want to contribute to the country’s educational development.

Yesterday, the education ministry said that 30% Bumiputera equity would no longer be a requirement for private education centres under its purview.

It said the decision followed discussions with the investment, trade and industry ministry and was intended to meet the education sector’s needs, while keeping it open to those who want to contribute to the development of the country’s education sector.

Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung had earlier highlighted the ministry guideline stating that tuition centres would need to have 30% Bumiputera equity for licence renewal next year.

The requirement drew criticism from independent scholar Sharifah Munirah Alatas, who said it did not encourage Bumiputera entrepreneurship and was unfair to operators who had built their businesses over the years.

The Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education also disagreed with the move, urging the government to instead provide financing, training and grants if it wanted to increase Bumiputera participation in the tuition centre sector.