Vernacular schools an invaluable, potential game changer for Malaysia
Datuk Tan Yew Sing
Such
institutions can produce multilingual students, raising nation’s
competitiveness
The Education Ministry, in its Malaysia
Education Blueprint 2013-2025, has said that it is committed to developing and
implementing a transparent and equitable set of principles for the allocation
of financial aid and other support for all school types.
All evidence to date – within ASEAN and
internationally – shows that multiple language fluency in whichever country in
the world is an asset not only to the individual, but to the business
organisation as well as the nation that encourages it.
We are fortunate in that not only do we have a
multilingual population. We also have the building blocks for a bilingual and
even trilingual population in our national schooling system.
Our national education objective should be to
ensure every Malaysian child receives the right educational resources and a
fair share of opportunities from cradle to career. This is especially necessary
if we are to cope with international competition in an increasingly globalised
world.
Diversity and mastering more languages should
be a key policy priority. Our government should view vernacular schools using
different languages as a socio-economic resource for national development.
The government should also not be pressured to
view a different medium of instruction to Bahasa Melayu as a hindrance to
national unity.
Reality
in history and on the ground
Multi-stream education opportunities and the
right to education in the mother tongue of each ethnic group is enshrined in
the constitution. Such rights cannot be arbitrarily deprived because of
extremist groups that have no political or educational legitimacy.
Nationalism and national unity cannot be built
on the basis of depriving minority ethnic groups of their constitutional rights
to learn and study in their mother tongue together with the national language.
Any individual who professes to be a true
Malaysian nationalist should not harbour any stereotypical views or prejudice
towards other ethnic groups, their identities and their mother tongue.
On the contrary, a true nationalist should
treat all races and ethnic groups equally and respect their constitutional
right in setting up schools of their choice.
It is also undeniable that, during the past 65
years, there has been a steady erosion in the policy’s importance and resources
allocated to vernacular schools compared with national schools that use Bahasa
Melayu as the medium of instruction.
How and why this has happened has already been
analysed by many academics and the overwhelming conclusion is the
politicisation of the national educational system and the language issue.
This
is the situation on the ground and the real facts and figures on schooling
which policymakers, politicians and the public need to know for future policy
formulation and implementation:
- Of close
to three million students enrolled in primary schools, 98% are in the public
system and 2% in private schools. Some 77% of public schooled students are
enrolled in national-type schools (SK) with Bahasa Melayu as the medium of
instruction; 20% in Chinese national-type schools (SRJKC) and 3% in Tamil
national-type schools (SRJKT). Government-aided religious and special schools
account for less than 1% of enrolment.
- Despite the constant agitation by
extremist language groups. SRJKCs have become more multiracial in their student
enrolment while SKs have become less multiracial. An estimated 20% or more of
SRJKC students are non-Chinese, mainly Bumiputera, and this proportion of Malay
and other Bumiputera parents preferring to send their children to SRJKC schools
has been steadily increasing.
- The UPSR achievement gap between SK
and SRJKC schools is insignificant. There is a small achievement gap of about
four percentage points between SRJKT and the other two streams.
- SRJKs, although they teach in what
has been referred to as the mother tongue, have the same curriculum content as
the SKs.
- Despite enrolment in different
schools, there is widespread proficiency in Bahasa Melayu among students of all
races with 75% of students achieving a minimum credit in the 2010 SPM
examination. If Bahasa Melayu language proficiency is seen as an important tool
of integration, there is little or no adverse impact of vernacular education schooling.
Clearly,
there is a political, racial or emotive approach to the issue that is ignorant
of parental and pedagogical concerns and the constitutional provision on
instruction in one’s mother tongue. What can be the solution?
Proposals
for strengthening vernacular schools
Here
are my proposals as an educationist that takes into account both grassroots as well
as feedback from non-governmental organizations on how to strengthen vernacular
schools:
- Treat all
education streams as part of the national schooling system with equal treatment
to nurture a multilingual population competent for global competition.
- Allow all
education streams to have equal opportunity and equal resources to expand and
grow according to parental choice and market needs.
- Develop
education in the mother tongue of minority and indigenous communities,
especially in East Malaysia.
- Provide
further resources to enhance the learning of Bahasa Melayu in vernacular
schools.
- Organize
more extramural activities for students of different streams to interact and
encourage social integration.
Building further on the National Education Blueprint
2013-2025
At the same time,
it is important to recognise that education reform cannot be accomplished
without strong political will and common understanding among the key
stakeholders in the Education Ministry and others in the educational sector. An
important start has been made in the National Education Blueprint (NEB)
2013-2025.
Organised and
carried out under the watch of then deputy prime minister and education
minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the blueprint is the result of a
multitude of analyses, interviews, surveys, and research conducted with
national and international experts, officials, teachers, principals and parents
all across Malaysia. In addition almost 12,000 members of the public and
various stakeholder groups were consulted for their ideas and feedback.
It is important
to stress that the NEB not only recognised the importance of upholding and
supporting the SRJKs but it also made the following important commitment:
ensure all government and government-aided schools receive adequate financial
support.
The ministry
pledged to develop and implement a transparent and equitable set of
principles for the allocation of financial aid and other support for all school
types. These principles will be in line with the system aspirations of access,
quality, equity, unity and efficiency (E-19).
It is necessary
that parents and all stakeholders in Malaysia pay careful attention to what is
now happening to their children in the national educational system, especially
in vernacular schools, and whether this commitment is being kept or ignored.
22 August 2021
The Vibes
