Chinese parents aren’t opposing BM’s national language status; only want science, maths continue to be taught in English

 

VOCAL yet controversial UMNO Youth head Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh has ticked off parents of 11 Chinese-medium secondary schools in Penang for “strongly opposing the forceful implementation “of at least one class using Bahasa Melayu as a medium of instruction.

“Why are you so afraid of using Malay as the medium of instruction in only one class?” lambasted the nationalist-centric Merlimau state assemblyman in a recent Facebook (FB) post.

“On this issue, we remain fully supportive of the policy implemented by the Education Ministry. Bahasa Melayu is the national language of this country. Full stop”.

As ‘protest’ by the boards and parent-teacher associations (PTA) of the 11 Penang Chinese-medium secondary schools sparks furore across the comment section of Akmal’s FB page, the Penang state government has vowed to work closely with the Education Ministry to find an amicable solution to the issue which stemmed from the implementation of a ruling that at least one science and mathematics class must be taught in Bahasa Melayu.

Earlier yesterday (June 5), the schools’ boards and PTAs claimed that almost all parents in their schools were reluctant to have their children in the said class.

Instead, they urged the Education Ministry to respect the wishes of the parents by reverting to the original intention of the dual language programme (DLP) in science and mathematics. whereby both subjects are taught in English in these schools.

A letter dated April 15 from the state Education Department to the principals of 36 national and vernacular primary schools and 52 national and vernacular secondary schools in Penang has outlined the Education Ministry’s intention to have at least one class using Bahasa Melayu as a medium of instruction in all vernacular schools starting this year.

The class is to have a minimum of 20 students.

Below is a gist of the stance by the boards and PTAs of the 11 Penang Chinese-medium secondary schools as conveyed by their spokesman Datuk Seri Koay Hean Eng who is also the Board of Penang Chung Ling High School chairman (courtesy of New Straits Times):

Datuk Seri Koay Hean Eng (Image credit: Bernard Yong Facebook)

“We, the representatives from the School Board and PIBG of the 11 SMJK/SM(C) in Penang, want to express our strongest opposition to the forceful implementation of at least one class of non-DLP for the subjects of science and mathematics in all the SMJK/SM(C) in Penang.

“This has caused major contradiction among the parents who strongly opposed the policy. It also creates unnecessary troubles for the school administration. As a result, there has been confusion and psychological imbalance among the pupilss.

“This policy totally ignores the will of the parents and goes against the original intention of the DLP which is supposed to strengthen and better equip pupils in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and TVET in order to pursue the aim of the New Industrial Master Plan 2030.” – Focus Malaysia