MALAYSIA. Proposals to increase the hours children spend at school have become early casualties of the economic crisis after a 40 per cent fall in the value of the Malaysian currency.
Education minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said: “The longer session is a good idea but we simply lack the resources, both physical and financial, to make it a reality.”
In June the teachers’ union threatened industrial action if the plan went ahead. Confrontation with the government was avoided but feelings ran high.
Working parents welcomed the idea, but teachers balked at the longer working hours.
The financial crisis means that there are no funds to build the extra facilities that would be needed. So parents will have to continue arranging their days around their children’s school sessions.
