SEREMBAN: R. Shivaani and her family can barely contain their excitement that the 10-year-old girl can return to school this coming March after missing out the previous year due to her nationality status.
Her father, P. Rajheswaran, 44, expressed his gratitude to the Education Ministry over its concern in resolving his only child’s schooling issue, adding that he would need to arrange his daughter’s nationality documents with the assistance of Pertubuhan Kebajikan Masyarakat Bersatu to guarantee her future.
"Shivaani got very excited when she learnt she could resume schooling. She attended Standard One to Three but last year she was unable to attend,” he told reporters at their home in Senawang, sharing that his daughter could only learn reading and writing with her aunt P Logeswari, 43, at home.
Shivaani, a Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Sri Pagi student, said she could not wait to meet her schoolmates and teachers again in March, and thanked everyone who helped her.
"I’m so happy to be able to go to school again and I’m excited to catch up with my friends, especially my good friend, Adam. My ambition is to be a police officer and I love mathematics,” she shared.
The Education Ministry held a meeting with the Negeri Sembilan Education Department on Dec 28 to seek a solution to allow Shivaani to continue schooling as normal after she wrote a letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for his assistance to help her continue schooling.
She is believed to have been unable to attend school due to nationality documentation issues as her parents, who did not register their marriage, divorced in 2013.
Negri Sembilan Education Department director Dr Roslan Hussin said they had resolved the issue and will help Shivaani to transfer to a school near her home.
"The matter is settled, we need to give Shivaani room to continue her education, and also her family needs to attend to her identification documents with the National Registration Department,” he said.- Bernama