PUTRAJAYA: The education sector will be at the forefront of the focus of the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) next year, said its Special Committee Chairman Datuk R. Ramanan.
Ramanan said the unit under the Prime Minister's Department is also in the process of drafting a plan on the focus of initiatives and programmes it will carry out next year.
"We are in the process of discussing this plan, however, I think all of us collectively agree that education is one of the areas that we are going to be giving a lot of attention to.
"Of course, there are many aspects (we will also focus on), such as healthcare and the sports sector. However, I believe that for us to build a community for the future, education is key.
"This is because it is not going to be enough if we just give them fish, but, they can pass on (the knowledge) for generations to come if we teach them how to fish," he said during a press conference at the unit's headquarters, today.
Present was Bukit Jelutong member of Parliament RSN Rayer, who is also a Mitra committee member.
At the same time, Ramanan, who is also the Sungai Buloh MP, said the unit has also assisted 10,000 Indian students in the payment of semester fees at both public and private institutions of higher learning.
Of the total, 7,000 students received RM2,000 relief aid and another 3,000 student applications were being processed by the unit.
"In regards to the 10,000 Indian students, we have paid about RM30.96 million to nearly 7,000 students and we are in the process of releasing the money to another 3,000 students.
"(And) in the future, nobody is going to be left out in whatever we are going to do. This is very important and the prime minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) has also made it clear to us on the matter, in line with the Madani concept."