Commenting on a report that an eight-year-old child in Kelantan was forced to withdraw from school because her birth certificate did not recognise her as Malaysian, Maszlee maintained that education should be provided to all children.

“Has the zero-reject policy launched in 2019, aimed at ensuring all children are allowed to go to school, been abolished?

“Does the change of government also mean the education of vulnerable children should also be taken away?” he asked in a Twitter post today.

The zero-reject policy, implemented by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, guaranteed that children with special needs and those categorised as “undocumented” would be given access to education in public schools.

Previously, Maszlee’s deputy in the PH government, Teo Nie Ching, had asked the PN government to explain why the passport requirement for stateless children in government schools was suddenly reintroduced when it was scrapped in 2018.