KUALA LUMPUR – The youth-based Muda has reminded Bersatu’s youth wing Armada that the latter’s own party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had given an assurance when he was education minister that vernacular schools would not be abolished.
Muda information chief Zaidel Baharuddin said his counterpart in Armada, Mohd Ashraf Mustaqim Badrul Munir, should not just condemn Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim for defending vernacular schools, but also look at the decisions made by Bersatu’s own leadership.
Zaidel referred to the assurance made by Muhyiddin when, as education minister and deputy prime minister, he launched the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 eight years ago.
“If Ashraf can only make noises towards Sim, but is scared and not brave enough to reprimand the former education minister who promised the moon and stars, then it is confirmed that he (Ashraf) is not a nationalist and is a political apple polisher,” Zaidel said in a statement last night.
Earlier yesterday, Ashraf had said Armada stood by its stance to abolish vernacular schools in stages, as the wing believes that the use of the national language has eroded with the existence of these schools.
He said this move is necessary if vernacular schools conduct “deviant” teachings of the nation’s history.
He was reacting to Sim’s query to Deputy National Unity Minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal in Parliament on whether Wan Ahmad maintained his position to abolish vernacular schools in the lower House.
Zaidel said Ashraf’s previous assertions that vernacular schools have been distorting history through their syllabus are highly questionable.
“Let me remind Ashraf that the curriculum and subjects of SJK (vernacular) schools are set by the Education Ministry.
“If it (teaching of history) is deviant, the education minister from Bersatu (Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin) is deviant as well,” he said.
Zaidel said if Ashraf is concerned about the poor command of Bahasa Malaysia among youth, Armada should be fair in calling out other communities that fail to use the national language.
“They should mention the children of aristocrats and the privileged who were sent to English medium schools until they could not speak properly in the national language.
“If Armada considers that vernacular schools that do not use Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction are stumbling blocks of its ‘national unity and integration’, it should not stop at Chinese and Tamil schools, it should also condemn schools that use other languages.”
Zaidel said if Armada wants to take corrective measures and improvements to the country’s education system, it can start with more pressing matters such as the delivery of laptops that were promised to students from low-income groups. – The Vibes, November 30, 2021
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