KOTA KINABALU – The missing allocation for vernacular schools in Budget 2021 oppresses the Chinese community, said Sarawak’s Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong in criticism of the Perikatan Nasional government.
The DAP representative said the road ahead for Chinese education was bleak as there were pending lawsuits seeking to ban vernacular schools in Malaysia.
“Let us not forget there are still pending lawsuits, taken up by those who support PN, to ban vernacular schools and declare them illegal.
“I would say that the road ahead for Chinese education is bleak and may even face the reality of closing down,” she said in a statement today.
Yong said the big cut in allocation for Chinese education was a clear sign that the PN government is neglecting Chinese education.
“The PN government is taking a giant step to oppress and suppress the development of Chinese education, thereby ignoring the wishes and needs of the Chinese community in the education segment,” she said.
In Budget 2021, which was tabled by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz last Friday, the allocation for vernacular schools, although unspecified, falls under community-based initiatives.
Under it, the Chinese community will be allocated RM177 million for programmes to improve educational facilities, housing, and the development of new villages, as well as financing facilities through Bank Simpanan Nasional.
RM100 million is allocated to the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit to elevate the Indian community’s socio-economic status.
Yong said it was not specified how the allocation would be distributed to the country’s various types of vernacular schools.
She said that with education under the federal government’s purview, it was only right and fair for it to care for all types of schools through allocations for development, repairs, or maintenance.
Multilingual education organisations have also expressed disappointment over the matter, with Inisitiatif Pengislahan Pendidikan Nasional (IPPN), a coalition of 18 multilingual education groups, saying the previous national budgets had specific allocation for vernacular schools.
Chairman Datuk Tan Yew Sing said the 2021 allocation was not clear as to how much would be allocated to address the community’s various needs.
“What about other minority groups?” he asked.
IPPN is a coalition that supports multi-stream and mother tongue education.
Tan, who is also the Dong Zong’s deputy president, told The Vibes that Budget 2019 had allocated RM12 million for vernacular schools, and RM15 million was allocated for the same purpose in Budget 2020.
He said it showed how the government recognised and valued the schools’ contribution to the nation’s human resources.
“The government should also look into allocating funds to non-profit making private institutions. These institutions should have a certain allocation, or vouchers, because they have been taking the burden from the government in training our next generation,” he said. – The Vibes, November 9, 2020
