GEORGE TOWN, June 12 — Seven weeks of uncertainty will end on Monday for T. Shuvita.

She will rejoin classes at  SMK Convent Pulau Tikus which she had to leave abruptly on April 25 after being categorised as a non-citizen.

The 14-year-old, who is returning as a foreign student courtesy of the state Education Department, will be allowed to  sit for the Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) public examination later this year.

An excited Shuvita told Malay Mail she is awaiting her return to class as she missed her teachers and friends.

“I am also happy I can return to my books. I thank Malay Mail and the Education Department for this,” she said.

Born to a Malaysian father, S. Tanabalan, 50, and Indonesian mother,  Winarti, 38, Shuvita had a rude shock when she received a letter on April 24 from the school’s principal Nooriah Mohamad informing Shuvita she had to stop schooling as she did not have a  foreign student pass required by non-citizens.

Malay Mail highlighted her plight on June 9 with the department informing her  parents on Wednesday that Shuvita can resume classes in the school if they pay a RM240 fee levied on foreigners wanting to study in government schools.

State education director Datuk Osman Hussain was puzzled by the incident.

He had said he would investigate how she had been able to enrol in a  government primary school with her  non-citizen status.

Osman said a non-citizen cannot study in a government or government-aided school without a valid foreign student pass.

Shuvita, born at the Penang Adventist Hospital in 2000, was identified as a “non-citizen” in her birth certificate because her parents’ marriage was not legally registered then under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976.

Her younger sister, Nevashree, was, however,  declared a citizen as she was born on Aug 4, 2006, after Tanabalan had registered his marriage on May 9, 2005.

With Shuvita’s education issue settled, her parents are now looking forward to obtaining Malaysian citizenship for her.

Tanabalan said he would be liaising with the National Registration Department (NRD) on the matter.

Winarti hoped the NRD would declare  Shuvita a citizen and issue her a MyKad soon.

“We cannot afford to pay for the  foreign student pass,” she said, adding that she was glad her daughter had been given the opportunity to go to school like other children her age.