PAS Youth: No need to tear down vernacular schools, just improve BM

PAS Youth supports keeping vernacular schools open but hopes the teaching and learning of national language Bahasa Malaysia will be improved.

This comes after Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fahysal Wan Ahmad Kamal proposed such schools be phased out as a necessary compromise for national unity.

Speaking at the “Half A Year of the PN Administration” convention in Kuala Lumpur this evening, PAS Youth chief Khairil Nizam Khiruddin applauded Wan Fahysal for his “brave” statement.

Khairil (above), who contested in Gombak during GE14, said his and his party wing’s stance on the issue of vernacular schools was unchanged since two years ago.

“The schools are already there, let them stay open. But we need to improve the quality of Malay language education and kemenjadian (the success of) students at vernacular schools.

“What is there, is there. Why would we want to tear them down? Vernacular schools are already around.

“That’s why PAS Youth’s opinion is that these schools need to adapt to the quality of the national education system. And if this needs to improve, please go ahead,” he said during his address.

Wan Fahysal (below) also spoke at the event.

The Youth and Sports deputy minister clarified that his proposal was intended to encourage “intellectual discussion” and not trigger a “political polemic”.

“My view was not based on personal prejudice towards other ethnicities but a suggestion of what we think is an important issue.

“We have been independent for 63 years but problems regarding unity have not changed,” he said.

Referencing the work of academic Teo Kok Seong, Wan Fahysal stressed that compromise was needed to achieve racial unity.

This, he said, was especially since the Malays had already sacrificed much.

“If we want to bring about real national unity, there needs to be sacrifice among races, and I think the Malays have already sacrificed a lot.

“We have left behind Jawi and we have long opened up all sorts of spaces to other ethnicities to live together for the benefit of everyone.

“Therefore, I feel that we should pay attention to this matter and discuss it intellectually, not (make it) a political polemic,” he said.

[More to follow] - Mkini