Hindraf: Combined class teaching in vernacular, rural schools bad for the poor

Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy says there should be no discrimination when it comes to education.

KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf today criticised the move to combine classes in vernacular and Sabah and Sarawak primary schools with fewer than 30 pupils, saying it will adversely affect the rural poor.

Effective Jan 2, more than 393 Tamil, Chinese, Sabah and Sarawak schools in rural areas have been subjected to combined class teaching, Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy said in a statement. He added that there was no proper justification for this.

He said director-general of education Amin Senin had sent a circular dated Dec 12, 2017, to all schools informing that this measure was for immediate implementation

Deputy Education Minister Chong Sin Woon had said the new measure was due to a teacher shortage. He also said some 500 graduates would be posted to schools in March.

Under the new measure, Year Two and Year Three will be merged while Year Four and Year Five will become one, according to Chong.

“A total of 102 Chinese schools with fewer than 30 students will have to combine classes,” he said recently.

However, the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) said there was no need for combined classes because the problem of teacher shortage in Chinese primary schools had been solved.

“Generally, we have enough teachers though there may be a shortage in the beginning of the year before the new postings are sorted out,” said Dong Zong chairman Vincent Lau.

Waytha Morthy said: “It is surprising the government suddenly finds a shortage of 500 school teachers.”

He also questioned the contradictory statements on teacher shortage by the Dong Zong and the education ministry, saying this showed something was wrong in the ministry.

He said the students affected by the new measure were from disadvantaged backgrounds who were already suffering from poverty. Lack of quality education and support might generate more severe negative effects and have a long term impact on them, he added.

“Families from higher socio-economic backgrounds in semi rural or urban areas may have more resources at home to compensate for less support at school, for example with private tutoring, but students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds may not be able to overcome these additional hurdles. So does it make sense to victimise these rural students?

“The Prime Minister (Najib Razak) goes around boasting that we have the highest budget for education amongst Asean countries, yet none of the Asean countries run multiple-class combined teaching.”

Waytha said Malaysia, a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, must adhere to equality in education for all children “and not one based on convenience of the government”.

“Giving lame excuses like shortage of teachers, not enough budget, shows a weak government without long term policies and plans to ensure the future generation of Malaysians are provided with the opportunity for an equal standard of education without any discriminatory practices like combining classes for those schools in the rural vicinity.” -FMT