MEKAR DIDIK: JPN Aims To Resolve Over 12,000 Student Identification Issues By June

MARANG, March 1 (Bernama) -- The National Registration Department (JPN) aims to resolve all 12,101 documentation issues involving mainstream school students nationwide as early as June this year.

Its director-general, Badrul Hisham Aliasvsaid that the efforts through the MEKAR DIDIK initiative, which is an added value to the Program Menyemai Kasih Rakyat (MEKAR) JPN, have now been completed by about 35 per cent since its launch last November.

"Out of the total number of non-citizen students involved, Sabah recorded the highest target number of 6,997, followed by Selangor (1,833) and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (496)."

"So far, after a few months since it started...all states have held meetings with the District Education Offices and the State Education Department. In Sabah, we have met with the education director and Insya-Allah, will receive the blessing to enter all schools in the near future," he said.

He said this to reporters after completing the house repair project for the asnaf through the MADANI JPN Madani Village Adoption programme in Kampung Padang Tanjung here today.

"So, with the number in Sabah being almost 7,000, if we can get it done, I think our target will be able to resolve all documentation issues in mainstream schools by June or December this year," he said.

MEKAR DIDIK, which is also a collaboration with the Ministry of Education Malaysia, aims to address the issue of dropouts among eligible school students who do not have identification documents such as birth certificates, identity cards (MyKad) and citizenship certificates.

In a separate development, Badrul Hisham said the JPN is committed to eradicating the issue of fake MyKad usage despite facing difficulties as the activities, according to him, are carried out by syndicates.

"We actually make arrests every day, but because it involves syndicates, the numbers are not large. Recently, we detained 16 Indonesian nationals for using fake MyKads that belonged to other people.

"Therefore, as mentioned by the Deputy Home Affairs Minister (Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah), our initiative to solve this problem is to use the new generation MyKad, which is more sophisticated and will enable the community to identify whether it is fake or not," he said.

Shamsul Anuar was previously reported as saying that the replacement of the new structured identity card aims to ensure that the identity cards to be issued by JPN in the future have high security features, are safe, and are enhanced in line with the latest security technology developments.

At today's programnme, he said that JPN has received approval from the Ministry of Finance, among others, for repair and construction work on drains, multipurpose halls, community halls, and playgrounds in the village concerned through an allocation of RM1 million.

-- BERNAMA