PENANG: Parents of Chinese primary school pupils are finding it difficult to pay for graduation trips costing more than RM1,000 each person.

A parent shared several tour packages offered for graduation trips ranging between RM1,490 and RM1,950 per person on a Facebook group, questioning the need for a Year Six pupil to spend more than RM1,000 for such trips.

From the screenshot posted by the mother, a trip to Singapore costs RM1,490, Sarawak RM1,850 and Sabah RM1,950.

The mother asked, “Is Taman Negara or Bukit Bendera expensive or far? Not every parent can afford such expensive trips!”

She said the school should take the financial capability of a family into consideration.

“The graduation trip should be an affordable one and not offer various packages for the students to choose.

“The significance of such a trip is to let the pupils have a good trip before they leave their primary school after studying together for six years.

“But if the tour packages are too expensive, the trip could be a heavy burden for the family,” she wrote.

Some netizens also shared the same view and questioned whether traveling to East Malaysia by air is necessary. They said visiting places in West Malaysia is good enough.

Another netizen commented: “Is such a trip necessary?”

Loh Tian Hong, chairman of the Malaysian Chinese Education Parents Association said such outing should be a memorable trip for the pupils but expensive trips should not be encouraged.

“The tour packages should be affordable for all pupils to join. The trip should be a memorable one for the pupils,” he said in a phone interview with Sin Chew Daily.

Loh said the headmaster of the school should consider whether pupils from B40 families would be able to afford such trip.

He also reminded the parent-teacher association to take into consideration the parents’ feelings and their financial capability.