GOVERNMENT preschools are not a “second-class” place for early education, Deputy National Unity Minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said today. 

With a high number of Malay pupils at these preschools nationwide, Wan Fayhsal said non-Malay parents should not hesitate to send their children to “Tabika Perpaduan”.

“In the past, there were no logos, no special uniforms, but now we have upgraded the facilities at Tabika Perpaduan so that parents can feel confident that this is not a ‘second-class’ place where the children are educated,” he said in Parliament today. 

Wan Fayhsal hopes strengthening the ministry’s Tabika Perpaduan Early Childhood Education Plan 2021-2030 would attract more non-Malay parents.

He was replying to Ahmad Maslan (Pontian-BN), who had asked additional questions on the ministry’s plans to increase the number of non-Malay student enrolment in these preschools nationwide, as he claimed many parents prefer sending their children to private kindergartens. 

Wan Fayhsal said there are 1,781 Tabika Perpaduan nationwide with a total of 37,319 registered students. 

He said the current student composition in Tabika Perpaduan consists of Malays (76%), Indians (6%), Chinese (2%), Kadazan (2%), Iban (3%), and others (10%).

Wan Fayhsal admitted the challenges faced by the ministry to attract other races to these pre-schools but said it is also highly dependent on the locality of the preschools. 

“This (percentage of students by race) is highly dependent on the locality. 

“It has to do with the urbanisation process, the local demographic that demands the establishment of these kindergartens and parents who want to send their children to these preschools. 

“The ministry will assess if it can open Tabika Perpaduan in places where there are multiracial demographics,” he said. 

The Tabika Perpaduan Early Childhood Education Plan 2021-2030 is an initiative of the National Unity Ministry to further innovate the Tabika Perpaduan Early Childhood Education programme.

The goal of this plan is to strengthen the role of Tabika Perpaduan as an early childhood education institution in developing students’ potential and producing students who love the country and practise virtuous values. – March 14, 2022.