Who's to blame for RACIAL POLARISATION: Vernacular schools or POLITICIANS?

Educational pluralism in the country is not new. On the whole since Independence the education system has been in favour of diversity and multiculturalism that has pushed for vernacular schools in the country.  But this establishment cannot be the sole reason for racial polarisation in the country. Blame the politicians as well for their race- and religious-centric rhetoric and policies.

In fact, it is the UMNO-led government with its brand of politics and education policies that have failed to address multiculturalism beyond the vernacular schools and this has hindered racial integration in the country.

A sense of belonging

The United Nations Development Report 2004 claims that efforts to impose homogeneous cultural identity can lead to social tensions and conflicts. It mentions UNESCO’s proposal of a three-language policy – one international language, one lingua franca and the mother tongue language. It also calls for recognising all the three as official languages.

Malaysians are encouraged to acquire the language of science and international communication – English – and are also poised to learn other international languages.

Unity in diversity and multiculturalism are favourable symptoms found in many countries. People want to be united but also by nature want to have the sense of belonging to be proud of their roots, culture, religion and language.  This is normal, as it’s an inherent quality of all human beings.

Multiculturalism can actually widen the skylines for the nation in many ways. Obstructive policies that deny growth of ethnic identities are less of a norm even in developed countries. It’s a delusion that any country could have a single identity when it comes to race or religion.

But they can still function as a nation of patriotic people when there is diversity in which there is the wisdom of tolerance and consensus.

Harmonious co-existence in a single state polity needs understanding, tolerance and social justice. National identity may not necessarily entail a single homogenous cultural identity for unity. This is contrary to the fundamental teaching of the official religion of the country.

Human fraternity and unity is clearly stated in the Holy Quran. The verse reads:

“O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female; and We have made you into tribes and sub-tribes for the sake of easy recognition. Verily, the most honourable among you, in the sight of God, is the most righteous among you. Surely, God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (49:15)

This verse is aimed at all human beings and is not confined to the believers of the Quran. This particular verse strikes at the roots of false and imaginary notions of racial arrogance and superiority.

It affirms that the worth of a person is not to be judged by his race, skin colour, social or economic status but the standard is what a person can do as a moral and social human being in discharging his responsibilities and obligations to serve God by serving mankind.

Value system

To the proponents of vernacular education, they opine that all races should get meaningful access to education.  This can only be achieved if they understand the language of coaching and have opportunities to develop their competences in that language.

Beyond this is the “value system” and culture that come with mother tongue education. To the critics though, vernacular schools are regarded as an implement by those in power to divide and rule. To some others, preserving the vernacular education system to cultivate a single identity for the nation has proven to be just imaginary.

Nonetheless, the country has survived all the challenges as a multilingual, multicultural and multi-religious country for 55 years.

Ethno-linguists opine that acquiring the mother tongue and more than a single language is not going to make the people neglect the national language of the country or cause discord or racial polarisation to the extent that it can ruin the fabric of society.

Identity politics has always been an inherent feature of this nation – be it in Barisan or Pakatan. The Constitution, for that matter, has articles and schedules that unambiguously recognise identity of race, religion and language of the majority and minority ethnic communities in the country.

It’s thus impalpable for politicians to create a nation with a single identity. No race in the country would want to lose their self-identities. But this may not necessarily be the reason for divisiveness and racial polarisation.

Blaming solely on the vernacular schools for racial polarisation may not be right.

The ideal situation would obviously be for a multi-racial Malaysia to have children of different races study under the same roof and under a fair education system to unite the people. But there are many setbacks in the national education policies or its implementation that are turning parents away from this ideal formula.

Unnecessary religious obsession in some national schools, racial politics, the school system itself, university entrance, job opportunities, affirmative policies, business opportunities and politics are all polarising the people more than vernacular education per se.

“Not religious enough”

Why only blame vernacular education for racial polarisation when people of all races –Malays, Chinese, Indians and Others – are given the freedom to attend vernacular schools?

The issue today is that many Malays, Chinese, Indians and the Rich are snubbing national schools. It was reported in a local media that about 800 000 Malay children are studying in Sekolah Agama Rakyat (SAR) – primary and secondary. The parents here feel that national schools are “not religious enough” for their children.

About 96 percent of Chinese children and 56 percent of the Tamil children are schooling in the Chinese and Tamil primary schools respectively. They constitute almost one-quarter of the three million students enrolled in the primary schools. Some of the parents feel that national schools today have become “religious schools”.

There are now 80,000 Malays in Chinese primary schools compared to 2.18 million enrolled in national schools. The Malays make up 13 per cent of Chinese primary school students nationwide. In some urban schools, non-Chinese make up a third of the student population.

According to a report, about 20 per cent or 600,000 children go to Chinese primary schools, while the rest attend Tamil, private or religious schools. The non-Chinese are now making Chinese schools multi-racial as the number of non-Chinese enrolled in Chinese primary schools is increasing.

The definitive objective of the government is for the national school to be the school of choice where the perceived interactions between students of different socioeconomic, religious and ethnic backgrounds would naturally occur in the school.

But looking at the multi-racial scenario in some vernacular schools – Chinese and private or international – this objective can also be well-accomplished.

Parents of all these children want mother tongue education for their children and to preserve their cultural identity and “value systems”. They feel that their “cultural values” cannot be enhanced in national schools.

For instance, it is observed that Chinese school drop-outs could still excel in life compared with those drop-outs from other races because of the right “value system” they accede to in Chinese schools.

Some others opt for private schools for English education.  There is no doubt an inequitable distribution of Malaysian children by race, religion and social status in the various types of school flourishing in the country.

But this cannot be simply perceived as being divisive in nature or that it promotes racial polarisation.

Changes in the education policies

One reason for this trend to occur is the persistent changes in the nation’s education policies. This is perplexing to the parents making them lose confidence in the system.

Besides that, some parents – Malays and non-Malays – feel that national schools are “too religious oriented” for them.  They observe that the teaching profession does not reflect a multi-racial Malaysia. Majority of teachers are from a single race and this has not reflected the multi-racial composition of the country or schools.

Children may be physically polarised during their elementary education but this is not as bad as racial polarity at the post elementary school that is attributed to UMNO-led government policies.

It is observed that education beyond the elementary level is not truly strategic to avoid racial polarity. There are schools specially created for a single race and beyond that there are also higher institutions that are created only for a single race.

This policy itself has brought to racial separation in education.

And for students to enter public universities there are two paths offered – Matriculation for a single race and STPM for other races.  Without standard policies for all, Malaysian children will grow up to feel that some are more privileged than the others.

Most graduates end up knowing only a single language and many others have the advantage of knowing additional languages. Most unemployed graduates come from a single race and also those with only religious education and this leads to a race-job identity and racial schism.

Those absorbed into the already bloated civil service are from a single race out of fear that they will rise against the government if deserted.

The private sector and business sectors are more dominated by other races. Again, vocation wise there is still racial divergence in the country because of the failed education system and government policies.

It is this perceptual dichotomy that has helped vernacular education to flourish in the country.

Obsession in religious rhetoric

Language cannot be entirely blamed for this undesirable racial split.  When language can be a universal track to bring people together it’s the government policies on race and opportunities that has brought Malaysians apart.

Religious intolerance is forcing people to be spaced out in schools and other institutions. When there is religious diversity and when politicians keep on exploiting on religious metaphors to achieve their selfish goals in politics this leads to a conflict-ridden society.

The present government has not addressed on the failures of government polices to implement policies to help all races in the country. Affirmative policies are not factoring in the poor and marginalised groups or races.

It’s only the rich and the well-connected from a single race and a few of their cronies from other races are enjoying more privileges than the ordinary people.

When the offer of scholarships favour a single race and the deserving from other races are sidelined this brings displeasure to the deprived group. When business contracts and licences are also tinged with politics, race and cronyism this leads to racial animosity.

Affirmative action and positive discrimination policies were introduced in 1971 through the New Economic Policies to eradicate poverty and restructure the economy to eliminate identification of race with economic function.

Unfortunately, over the last 30 years the country has malformed itself into a single race-centric nation. The needs of the poor Malaysians among other races have been deprived.

Racial polarisation is thus created out of institutionalised discrimination and not so much due to vernacular education.

More dissonance and disunity

It looks like the government is confused with its education policies. There is an unsubstantiated fear of racial disunity or polarisation with the existence of vernacular schools on the part of some UMNO leaders.

But they cannot stop parents from sending their children to Chinese, Tamil, English or Religious schools until the national schools can become the “school of choice” for all Malaysians. The freezing out of the vernacular schools would only create more dissonance and disunity among the races.

Children growing up in a fair and democratic system will cherish the value of being together and become patriotic citizens irrespective of the types of school they attend at the elementary level.   They will cherish the economic, social and political benefits of multi-lingualism and multi-culturalism if the government is fair to them all.

Thus blame less on vernacular schools for the racial polarisation in the country. The failed and the unending “shifting” of education policies on the whole and UMNO-led government long discriminatory policies are in actuality pushing to drive apart the people more.

Malaysia Chronicle