KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik once again hit out at former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who has been evading the issue over allocation for Tamil schools in the country.

Maszlee said more importantly Najib must be accountable for the mysterious RM39.7 million ‘allocation’ for 13 Tamil schools which was promised by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government without the approval of the Cabinet.

“He has been questioned on the amount given to the Tamil schools and where the money has gone to during his tenure as the prime minister. So just answer the question instead of changing the topic,” he told reporters when presenting McDonald’s Malaysia Back to School packs here today.

On Oct 26, the Malaysiakini portal reported that checks by the Education Ministry and the Ministry of Finance found no such funds were approved though this was announced to the schools before the 14th general election on May 9.

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The matter was raised by the Malaysian Tamil School Governors Board of Council (MAST) after failing to receive the provision until today. 

Yesterday Najib uploaded a post on Facebook taking a jibe at Maszlee following his statement in Parliament that the cost of education in Malaysia was ’almost free’ and the government would maintain the university fees.

Maszlee responded on Facebook today saying that free education would have been possible if the leader had not used the people’s money to buy luxury items for his wife and family.

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Meanwhile, on the former prime minister’s recent interview on Al-Jazeera, Maszlee said Najib should have acted more professionally instead of walking out of the interview.

At the presentation ceremony today Maszlee called on the private sector to play their part in contributing to educational development in the country.

He said the Ministry of Education emphasised on public-private partnership (PPP) with the involvement of the community, private and public sectors through mutual agreement and smart partnership.

Some 17,000 urban poor children nationwide has benefited from the Back-to-School programme organised by McDonald’s Malaysia and Ronald McDonald House Charities with a sponsorship of RM1.7million. — Bernama