The Education Ministry has failed to conduct due process to allow SMK Convent Bukit Nanas (CBN) to be gazetted as a fully government-aided educational institution, say the alumnae president Marina Yong.

Yong was responding to a statement by Federal Territories Land and Mines Office director Muhammad Yasir Yahya who said the school land would revert to the government when the its lease ends on September 6.

This, Muhammad Yasir had said, would allow the school to be gazetted as an educational institution that is fully government-aided.

Yong, who attended CBN from 1971 to 1979, said even if the government did decide to convert the school, there must be due process.

“So far, however, no announcement has been made by the ministry, only a comment from the land office director,” Yong told The Malaysian Insight.

“As we can see, there has been no due process in this matter, so it doesn’t hold water.

“I think we need to hear from the relevant parties, like the MoE, which interestingly enough has been silent on this. They haven’t corroborated what the land and mines department said.”

She added that the alumni members found it odd that it was the land director and not the MoE who made the announcement, which left many of them puzzled as to the status of the school.

Three years of silence

*We do not want to be converted into a fully government-funded chool. If the government had intented to do so, they should have consulted the school and the mission authority would have had the opportunity to decline the offer.

“We don’t know why they have used that reason to not renew the land lease because as far as we understand, the Sisters were not informed of the reason and neither were they approached on this matter of becoming a fully funded government school.

“They first made the application for renewal in 2017 and that’s four years before the lease was up. The Sisters were doing their part by acting early, and in between there was no mention at all of it becoming a fully funded government school.

“Then in 2020 when they got the response that the lease was not going to be renewed, there was also no indication that the government was going to convert it to a fully funded government school. That’s why everyone is so puzzled. To hear this reason is very odd,” she said.

Yong said it was surprising that this matter has only just been brought up, given that CBN has been around for more than 122 years.

“The school has been running fine and if they did need any help there is a board of governors and if there was any serious need, they would convey it to the alumni association to help out.

If the school was in such dire need of funds, we would have known about it. But there is no such case.”

The CBN alumni, which was established three years ago, has so far assisted the school in providing additional furniture for the school halls and during the lockdown last year, the school provided a list of 19 pupils who were in dire need of food supplies and the alumni stepped in to help.

“Alumni associations always come to the help of the alma mater, this is quite normal and expected of us. School repairs are not necessarily something that needs millions (of ringgit) and the alumni are willing and happy to help out in fundraising.

“If it comes to a huge financial involvement, it might take a lot more effort and strategic thinking, but I’m sure the alumni will gather to meet whatever needs the school has,” Yong said.

She said the issue has made the alumni think about how better to support the school in a more meaningful way and to ensure the school’s legacy continues, but they will continue supporting the school if it chooses to remain independent.

“The alumni will continue to support the school if it chooses to contest the land lease and decide it does not want to be a government-funded school – if its autonomy is compromised.”

‘Fishy’

Dina Zaman, another former CBN student and co-founder of the think-tank Iman Research, said it is important to get the facts from the authorities.

“It is important that everyone knows what is going on with the school, from the relevant people,” she said, adding that the announcement by the director only came after the uproar over the non-renewal of the school’s lease.

She, too, found it “fishy” that the announcement did not come from the MoE.

“After reading all the reports and discussing with my friends, I find it rather fishy, because it’s something that they’ve (the school) been dealing with for the past few years.

“Granted CBN is not fully funded by the government, but it has managed to get by,” she said.

Dina, who was in and out of CBN from 1976 to 1988 due to her father moving for work, said that in her time there the school was very multicultural.

“If CBN does become fully government funded, I don’t know if the ethos will be the same. CBN in my time was multicultural and pupils were being bussed in from Chow Kit and the Felda areas.

“The school was very inclusive, I don’t remember a class that was predominantly one religion, everyone mixed. If it becomes fully funded, will it change the school? Or will they let CBN be?” she questioned.

She added that if the school decides to remain as it is, the alumni such as herself will step up and find ways to raise funds for the school’s needs.

Zulaida Zulkifli, a lawyer who attended CBN from 1989 to 2001, also agreed that the land office director was commenting on an education issue instead of the MoE.

“It’s odd because it should have been the Ministry of Education that made that announcement. To my understanding, the land office only deals with land issues,” she said.

Zulaida said that in the event the lease ends and the land returns to government ownership, she hopes that it will remain as an education institution and not developed into something else.

“Over the years, CBN has been a centre of excellence with prominent personalities coming out from there. It is because of the values that have been instilled in us by the sisters. If they change it to something different, it will be a pity.”

On Monday, the high court granted CBN’s application for leave for judicial review to challenge the government’s decision not to renew the school’s lease.

The application was filed on April 7 on behalf of the Lady Superior of the Society of St Maur, the corporate entity operating the Convent Bukit Nanas school.

Yasir was named as the sole respondent in the application. According to the document, the school had written to the lands and mines office on October 4, 2017, to seek an extension to its lease.

The school received a reply on December 18, 2020, that the lease would not be renewed, but no reason was given. The lease is due to expire on September 6, and the school is seeking a stay of the authority’s decision.

In the filing, CBN wants the high court to quash the refusal to extend the lease, compel Yasir to revoke the refusal letter, and to stay proceedings.

The all-girls’ school, established in 1899 by nuns of the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus – an institute dedicated to the education and training of underprivileged children and the betterment of their lives – is on Jalan Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur. – April 22, 2021.