Malaysiakini
Thirty NGOs have questioned why “unqualified” schools are among the 47 Tamil schools selected to implement the Dual Language Programme DLP).
“Tamil schools are mother tongue education centre,” Malaysian Indian Progressives A Rajaretinam said.
Parents who want their children to learn the subjects in English can opt for national schools, he said.
“They can always send their children to (national schools) if they’re interested to do DLP. “In Tamil schools, we don’t want DLP, very simple,” he said.
The group said it would next week send a memorandum to the Education Ministry to urge for the scrapping of the DLP for Tamil schools.
The NGOs also wanted the ministry to probe the schools’ Parent-Teacher Associations and principals for allegedly opting for DLP even though their schools did not qualify.
The NGOs said that these students would better understand those subjects if taught in Tamil, their mother tongue.
“Particularly if they are from rural areas, they’re incapable of acquiring the knowledge of science and mathematics through a foreign language because English is a foreign language”.
When asked if parents have objected to DLP, the group said those speaking out on the DLP did not represent students from Tamil-speaking lower-income families.
Parents supportive of the DLP are from English-speaking backgrounds, he said.
“Over 90 percent of poor parents are silent…,” he said.
Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid and Education director-general Khair Mohamad Yusof were not available to comment as they are both overseas.
