PRIME Minister Najib Razak has said that the segregation of vernacular and national schools has affected the country’s unity, and pledged to revamp the country’s education system after the 14th general election, according to reports.
“As you can see today, the Malays are in the national schools while there are also the SRJK (C), SRJK (T) and religious schools,” Najib was quoted as saying by The Star daily.
“We have gone through structural changes and we are now studying in a very compartmentalised manner,” he said at a townhall session with Axiata and Celom employees yesterday.
Malaysia’s ethnic-based, segregated school system is a colonial legacy from the British era and a contentious topic among proponents of different language-stream schools.
Malay nationalists have long lobbied for the abolition of Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools that they believe is a stumbling block to national unity.
This does not sit well with Chinese and Tamil educationists who believe in their children’s right to be educated in their respective mother tongue.
Meanwhile, urban, middle-class parents have lobbied for the return of English-medium schools that they believe will help raise the country’s education standards.
Najib had earlier said the government would realign the education system in order to prepare for the fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), a term coined by Germany in the country’s bid to incorporate advance web technologies, such as cloud and cognitive computing, in its manufacturing industry.
“We must prepare for the 4IR. With the mandate of the people, the government can make sure the education system can deliver the skill sets for the digital age,” he said in The New Straits Times.
“This is one of my top priorities.” – February 24, 2018.
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