BY: CHRISTOPHER FERNANDEZ

The school holidays will soon draw to an end and parents are facing the usual going back to school concerns while students are also concerned over issues related to their schools and studies as well as looking forward to meeting up with their peers.

It’s usually also during this time that paraphernalia used for school are sold widely throughout the country like school uniforms, school shoes, school bags, textbooks and workbooks and parents and students are in a frantic rush to buy what is necessary.

But all these cost money and parents in the B40 group are pleading and seeking assistance from the government as they are already burdened with household bills and the rising cost of food and other essentials.

There is also speculation that the transport charges to ferry students from their homes to school and back or to tuition centres are set to witness an increase which means that those households with a few children will have difficulty coping.

Going to school nowadays and raising kids is not child’s play as it has become a huge responsibility, and in most households in the B40 group, family planning was not of concern and this now factors as an additional burden for them.

Efforts must be made by the government, concerned NGOs, charitable organizations and philanthropists to assist and aid those families facing suffering and hardship in trying to give their children a formal education.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE

** The views expressed on this opinion is of the writer and not the publisher