Tuesday 26 April 2011

Increasing polarisation among races, perhaps the "Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua" initiative is a cure?

A news report from the MI which is of relevance amidst talks and discussions about the polarisation of races in this blessed country:

Language barrier to racial interaction, study reveals
By Debra Chong April 26, 2011


KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — A significant number of secondary school dropouts with Chinese primary vernacular education have little, or zero, command of English or the national language, according to a study.


Observers say this has created a group of Chinese who only interact within their own ethnic community and points to increasing racial polarisation in multicultural Malaysia....


....Tan Yew Sing who heads the KL-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall admitted that the problem was very serious and the association had set up a committee to look into the issue and arrest the problem.


He said the racial divide has become more pronounced in the last 10 years, starting with primary school education.


“The whole [education] system needs to be revamped... We need to find out how to build up an environment for interaction with people of difference races,” Tan told The Malaysian Insider.


“The whole [education] system needs to be revamped... We need to find out how to build up an environment for interaction with people of difference races,” Source here.


Tan Yew Sing was quoted to have said that that “The whole [education] system needs to be revamped... We need to find out how to build up an environment for interaction with people of difference races,”


I agree wholeheartedly, that the whole education system needs to be revamped if we want racial polarisation to be curtailed before it gets any worse. For this to happen then we should first decide not to voluntarily segregate our young from primary level.  


I could not think of a better option than to have a "Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua " System with option to teach Maths and Science in either Bahasa Malaysia or English with emphasis to have each student taking their own mother tongue language classes. 


This is the way forward for the nation's future. If successfully implemented we would see that not only our children having the benefit of mixing together from young knowing each others culture and religion but also be fluent in BM, English and their respective mother tongue (Mandarin or Tamil).


In order to have a One School For All System, the Government of the day will have to make decisions which will be unpopular with many, as understandably the existing mix Education system has taken roots since Merdeka, the Government must first find the political will to make the change in the name of the greater good it will bring to this blessed country. (Perhaps the Government can take inspiration from the Singapore or Indonesia experience)


Speaking of the National Language Act, I am alerted to a post from Blogger SatD here and the press release by LHDN here extract as follows:

"LHDNM di dalam memberikan perkhidmatan terbaik kepada pelanggannya telahpun mengorak langkah untuk memungkinkan laman sesawang di dalam Bahasa Mandarin sepenuhnya tapi inisiatif itu masih di peringkat pembangunan. Buat masa ini pembayar cukai boleh melihat 
terjemahan borang B dan BE di dalam Bahasa Mandarin di dalam laman sesawang Bahasa 
Malaysianya"  


I hope that the LHDN which is a very popular arm of the Government of Malaysia, while to be commended in their enthusiasm to be Tax Payer Friendly would however adhere to the National Language Act (National language to be used for official purposes), please understand that  websites(sesawang) are official Government applications. Nevertheless, translation applications embedded in Government website would be a good option. 


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If the kids of various races are to be put under one roof with SSUS, the initiative should not be restricted to primary school alone. At secondary level, the Maktab Rendah Sains Mara and elite residential schools can no longer be for Bumiputera only (in reality Malay predominantly) but untuk SEMUA. The initiatives must be in tandem, otherwise it'll be Satu Sekolah for under-12s but still Dua Sekolah for the teens.

We'll also have to fix the matriculation vs STPM dichotomy. Satu Peperiksaan Untuk Semua -- pick either one but do away with the current doubls standards.

Then logically as we move further up the value chain in our education system, quite naturally UiTM should be universiti untuk semua. Quite honestly, I can't think of any other university in the whole wide world that prohibits entry to deserving applicants on the basis of skin colour. Can you?

Anonymous said...

Rencana M'sian Insider yang dicekup di atas mengatakan "nearly one in four Chinese students has failed to complete secondary school education".

Saya jangka kadar dropout budak-budak lepasan SRJK(T) lagi tinggi. Dan besar kemungkinan masa depan mereka-mereka yang tercicir ini agak malap -- jadi Ah Moi jual mobil di Low Yat, jadi Ah Beng pelatih di kedai motor ... Di kalangan para remaja India pula, tanyalah kenapa ramai mereka terjebak jenayah? Kenapa ramai remaja Cina menjaja DVD cetak rompak di jalanan?

Tergerak hati juga untuk rasa kesian pada budak-budak Cina dan India ini yang kurang berpelajaran.

Sebuah kerajaan yang bertanggungjawab tidak seharusnya meminggirkan barang sesiapapun di antara generasi muda kita. Kelak kita sendiri kena tempias angkara masalah-masalah sosial yang kian menular.

Saya ada satu soalan mudah sahaja: Kepada 'Saidina' Umar Lim, boleh beritahu: Adakah anak-anak Saudara Guan Eng menuntut di sekolah Cina ataupun di sekolah kebangsaan?

Pernahkah Guan Eng mendaulatkan bahasa kebangsaan memandangkan dia sering mengakui dirinya seorang berjati diri Malaysian yang paling ter-First sekali?

Kalau betul-betul DAP ikhlas Malaysian First, the first thing mereka wajib buat ialah mendokong aliran sekolah kebangsaan!

Lantaran dengan timbulnya perbahasan isu bahasa ini, maka kita tengoklah putar-belit DAP nanti. Sokong SSUS? Ditelan mati emak, diluah mati bapa.