PAS Youth chief: Make Mandarin, Tamil compulsory in primary schools

PAS MUKTAMAR | Mandarin and Tamil should be taught as a mandatory subject at all national primary schools in a bid to boost national unity, according to PAS Youth chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin (photo, above).

In his winding-up speech at the 65th PAS Muktamar, Khairil Nizam also said PAS Youth similarly proposed that all students should be taught how to read and write the Jawi script.

"Because we know that one of the factors for national integrity to happen is command of language," he said.

"We have also seen how our friends fought for the continued existence of vernacular schools.

"If we make these languages mandatory in schools, we will be able to boost unity among races while, at the same time, respect the supremacy of the Federal Constitution," Khairil Nizam told over 1,000 PAS delegates gathered at the Sukpa indoor stadium in Kuantan.

Beyond promoting unity from a young age, he noted that introducing the languages as additional mandatory subjects in schools will also open up more opportunities for unemployed teaching graduates.

Muslimat PAS vice-chief Salamiah Md Nor, when debating party president Abdul Hadi Awang's policy speech yesterday, caused a stir with her call for an end to vernacular schools.

PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar subsequently downplayed Salamiah’s call, stating that what was debated during the muktamar remains a personal opinion and not the party's actual policy.

Earlier today, PAS central committee member Dr Halimah Ali, in her own winding-up speech, urged members to learn from the success of vernacular schools to upgrade the party's academic institutions. - Mkini