No parent would want to miss their children’s special occasion whether it be the school’s Sports Days, presentation, or even graduation ceremonies. Sometimes, parents will be asked to contribute a donation to help the school or the student’s class organise some of these special events.
However, how would you react if you’re being asked to pay RM500 or more just to attend a celebration at a 5-star hotel? Doesn’t seem reasonable, does it? That’s exactly what actress Adrea Abdullah thinks. Here’s what she said:
@adreaabdul Tak masuk akal! Seriously tidak adil! Korang setuju atau tidak untuk sekolah rendah & menengah adakan graduation lunch or dinner di hotel 4,5 star dan kenekan bayaran 150-200 setiap pelajar! Gile lah! #kementerianpendidikanmalaysia #trending #tren #celotehadrea #karut #takmasukakal #tidakadil
Over the weekend, Adrea posted a video on her social media pages to discuss a certain trend she’s been noticing at schools. According to her, these schools would organise graduation dinners or lunch at luxurious 5-star hotels, then demand the parents to pay a hefty amount of money so that the students and the families could attend the ceremony.
“The schools made it compulsory for parents to pay up to RM200 so that their children would be able to attend the dinner. If parents want to attend, they’d have to pay another RM150 each! That’s a total of RM500,” she said. The “Dalang” star went on to suggest that these schools are guilt-tripping the students’ parents to pay a large sum for a graduation ceremony. “Not everyone can afford. Why would you even choose a 5-star hotel? It doesn’t make sense!”.
The 46-year-old then stated that parents would feel even more pressured to pay after being added to a WhatsApp group where everyone would be notified of payment updates. The actress claimed that her sister and several friends have been in that situation where schools would emotionally extort the parents in order to organise an unnecessary expensive fancy event for the students.
Adrea’s post went viral with many netizens agreeing with her points saying that they too have experienced similar incidents. Many admitted that they had to forgo such events due to financial constraints. Perhaps the Ministry of Education could look into this matter and prevent schools from overspending on unnecessary venues for events.
