Raghavan Annamalai, the President of Tamil Foundation Malaysia, gave today to the Ministry of Education the ultimatum to revoke the Dual Language Programme (DLP) immediately without further ado. He delivered this ultimatum in his opening address to the Round Table Forum held in Kula Lumpur. Given below is the full text of his speech in English.

“Dear Sisters and Brothers,

To-day,   we have come together and assembled here at this Round Table Forum to deliver the ultimatum to the authorities concerned to immediately revoke the Dual Language Programme that has been implemented in 49 Tamil Primary schools in eight states of Malaysia.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome on my own behalf and on behalf of Tamil Foundation Malaysia, the Organiser of this Round Table Forum, all of you to this important Forum.

May I also say a special welcome to Datuk Zainal Abidin Borhan,  President of Gapena. His presence, I believe, will add strength to our cause as it is well known that Gapena  is against the implementation of Dual Language Programme.

Sisters and Brothers, we are assembled here today for the purpose of endorsing the decision of Tamil Foundation Malaysia,  which has rejected the Dual Language Programme, and to issue an ultimatum to the authorities concerned to revoke this Programme with immediate effect.

Teaching science, technology of communication, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects), in a foreign tongue to primary school students has been rejected by serious minded scholars throughout the world, including Malaysia, and the UNESCO.

Tamil Foundation Malaysia is not against teaching English language to our students. Teach the English language first. Let the students acquire proficiency in the English language. Teaching the STEM subjects to the youngsters in the primary schools before they have learned the A, B, C of the language is equivalent to putting the cart before the horse!

Distinguished scholars led by PROFESOR EMERITUS DATO’ ISAHAK HARON (KETUA) of FAKULTI SAINS KOGNITIF DAN PEMBANGUNAN MANUSIA, UNIVERSITI PENDIDIKAN SULTAN IDRIS have said in 2008 that “To improve English proficiency, the government should allocate more time for English Language teaching in primary school, and encourage alternative methods, as opposed to ‘standardized method’, and use of a variety of materials, including appropriate readings from ‘content’ areas such as literature, science, history and geography, to teach English to pupils of diverse background, especially those in rural areas. This is a more appropriate approach to increase pupils’ mastery in reading and writing of English, and for them to benefit from the rich literature and information in science, technology, literature and social sciences.”

This is exactly what we want.  I am pleased to state that Gapena holds the same opinion.

It is a matter of deep regret that the government without giving due consideration to voices of reason in this regard and moved ahead to implement its Dual Language Programme. It is, I am certain, going to affect all the Malaysian students. This DLP is even more damaging to the primary school students in Tamil schools.

Originally, DLP was not meant for Tamil and Chinese school students. Suddenly, the programme was extended to these schools. For the year 2016, 30 Tamil schools were said to have applied for participation in the programme. Their applications received a humiliating rejection from the Ministry of Education. The reason for this rejection is that none of the 30 Tamil schools that made the application met the four criteria set by the Ministry. That was the standing of the Tamil schools in 2016.

But, in 2017 by the grace of some unknown forces the same 30 Tamil schools rejected  as totally unfit for the programme in 2016 have been allowed to participate in the Programme. Another 19 Tamil schools have been added, making a total of 49 Tamil schools.

Have all the Tamil schools, in particular the 49 Tamil schools, suddenly acquired in less than a year the standard set for participating in the programme?

Tamil Foundation Malaysia is eager to know who wrought this magic to convert the unfit schools fit – only for their further destruction.

Tamil Foundation Malaysia is not prepared to accept this comical opera. Our students and our schools are not fit enough for this exercise. And, as a matter of policy we wish to go by what the experts, both local and foreign, say in this matter.

In view of our resolve to reject the Dual Language Programme for Tamil schools, we consider it is time to give the Ministry of Education the ultimatum to revoke the Dual Language Programme immediately without further ado.

Thanks, to all.”