That, at least to me, would be the death knell for what is already an ailing education system.
My opinion, and I sure am entitled to it, is that the vernacular schools outperform the national schools in almost every factor.
That is the main reason I'm sending all my children there.
In a post by Din Merican, which was an opinion by the academic Farish Noor, the argument was that vernacular schools are a factor against national integration.
Populist Democracy made cowards of us all
Which was laughable.
Because the Chinese don't get less Malaysian as they go to a Chinese vernacular school.
I argued my point there.
But there were a few detractors who could not see the woods for the trees.
I'll post the comments chain here.
You let me know what YOU THINK.
- It is true that Malaysia is unique in that vernacular schools get government financial grants. Nowhere else do you find that.
Finanicial grants? Hahaha.
Pittance compared to national schools.
Most vernacular schools have to get addtional funding via other channels.
But I digress.
The real issue here is integration vs existence of vernacular schools.
1. Integration is an issue not because of different school systems. It is because of our stupid politicians who harp on race.
2. Vernacular schools have better methods and more dedicated people than national schools.
I’m not knocking those hardworking teachers in national schools. My father was a teacher in Darul Ridwan for 28 years.
I’m just saying I’m astounded by the amount of effort the teachers in vernacular schools put in and I have to say they’re better.
Also, let me state 2 reasons why my 2 boys are in Harcroft:
1. I believe it’s important to know their mother tongue. It will help them when China becomes the no.1 nation in the world in 10 years time.
It will also help Malaysians of ALL races if they know Mandarin. Imagine Malaysia being the no. 1 trading partner with China.
2. Like I said, I like what I see in the school. The teachers are organising additional classes. Robotics, Computer etc. Sure, I have to pay a little extra, but I know my boys are also getting extra knowledge and it’s worth it.
I was educated in SM King Edward VII, possibly the greatest school in the history of Malaysia.
My classmates are percentage wise the same ratio as our Malaysian population.
Until today, I keep in touch with them regardless of their ethnicity.
But I have 1 regret. The Mandarin classes those days was not sufficient to give me a proper grounding in the language.
If I did read and write Mandarin well enough, I would have been accepted by that company to work in China and earning RMB 1 million annually.
I passed everything in that interview except the language factor.
Harcroft, where is that?
Since they have al this over here too guess what, the Asians are taking over in studies over here but there ares till very very clever Australians we cannot discount that.
M’sians , poor, poor Ms’ians have benn cheated over what an excellent education can do to one self esteem, holistic develiopment and outlook adn help one participates in ones community effectively. Poor poor M’sians, cheated.
I was told by a Malay gentleman friend of mine that recently his child started in a new 1 Malaysia Smart School…and he found out that the children were made to assemble by race…and Bahasa Malaysia only was to be used in school. He promptly removed his child from the school.
Din, quite obviously, the Wisma Putra is not the only establishment that requires closer scrutiny.
Bobby is right …the fear among parents is that the standards will be lower in national type schools as compared with vernacular schools. Why should we accept this? It is not from lack of funds!
let me say my bit; my father was a headmaster in a vernacular school and I have taught for a couple of years. for the chinese from vernacular schools it is no problem getting a job in the private sector because there are many chinese companies. now they can easily get jobs in China. which is not the case for others.
a pupil who goes to a tamil school and excels would do the same if he goes to a chinese or national school.
here, we are concerned about Malaysia. we should not prepare our students to go to China, India or Australia; on the contrary we should give them an education that is proper, to BUILD malaysia – attract investment, research and development, new job intensive companies. businesses and a service sector which give jobs to OUR unemployed.
once and for all, get rid of vernacular schools. malay and english should become the main languages keeping the arts subjects in the national language and science subjects in english. make Pupils Own Language(POL) compulsory. wether you are chinese, indian or malay should not be a problem for the education department. make sure. the education minister is qualified for the job. get more non-malay teachers, they can do a lot of good for the future of this country.
once and for all GET RID of MCA and MIC who are making use of this theme for their own profits, splitting the people further.
Malaysia should be for Malaysians, there should be no chinese or indian politics.
Education should be non-political and non-racial so there can be only ONE TYPE of school. jibs would start 1School soon?
p.s.,
in germany they have extra schools for trees!! (Baumschule)
“The real issue here is integration vs existence of vernacular schools.
1. Integration is an issue not because of different school systems. It is because of our stupid politicians who harp on race.” – Bobby
Firstly, politicians who harp on race are not stupid. They know exactly where their bread is buttered. The very existence of vernacular schools will ensure that Malaysians will never be united. Exactly what these “clever” politicians want. Is that what you want, Bobby?
“2. Vernacular schools have better methods and more dedicated people than national schools.” – Bobby
True. These better methods and dedicated teachers will be doing their good work in National schools once vernacular schools are abolished. Win win.
“1. I believe it’s important to know their mother tongue. It will help them when China becomes the no.1 nation in the world in 10 years time.
It will also help Malaysians of ALL races if they know Mandarin. Imagine Malaysia being the no. 1 trading partner with China.” – Bobby
I repeat my call for English medium schools with compulsory Malay language passes. Mandarin and Tamil to be optional language subjects. This way, no child will forget their mother tongue – if the parents opt for the mother tongue, of course. The great thing is that they don’t have to. As Malay is already compulsory, I would hope that more Malay parents will choose either Mandarin or Tamil for their kids as their second language choice. It’s a lovely dream, isn’t it?
“2. Like I said, I like what I see in the school. The teachers are organising additional classes. Robotics, Computer etc. Sure, I have to pay a little extra, but I know my boys are also getting extra knowledge and it’s worth it.” – Bobby
This is achievable in National schools too.
What we need is national unity.
And, dedicated teachers.
Vernacular schools will always divide us – no matter how good they are.
The U.S. is a melting pot of cultures, of languages etc Everybody is from somewhere else. However, nobody comes to the U.S. to set up ethnic schools so they could send their children to learn their native languages and get an education in their native languages. They compete to get into schools administered by the local school boards and financed by state and federal governments.
But Malaysia has had to be different. Why? Was it because national schools are not good enough? In that case Malaysians should be given the choice of sending their children to state schools or private schools for their education. Until recently, private schools are limited to children of expatriates serving in Malaysia.
The existence of vernacular schools is grounded in history. In Malaysia the colonial administration had allowed vernacular schools and these have continued to this day. Recently Chinese vernacular schools gained popularity with some Malays who lacked the confidence national schools gives them.
In terms of a national education policy and objectives the existence of vernacular schools is an aberration. Where do graduates of these schools go to get their tertiary education?
As for the learning and teaching of Mandarin, it is increasingly popular with Americans today as it never was. It is just reality. On the other hand we have Chinese nationals from China coming here to complete the course to become attorneys and be admitted to the Bar here in the U.S. and then return to China. The world has become a lot smaller and borders don’t mean the same thing as they used to.
To Bobby
KE VII ? Yes, I remember leading the school chess team in the late ’60s. The school had a strong chess team. But we trounced them.
1. Harcroft is a relatively new school in Puchong. It’s almost privately funded by Tan Sri Lee, since government funding cannot cover a proper curriculum.
Which is a good and bad thing.
Good that there is someone like him concerned enough about education to take charge and my children will benefit from a well-funded school (and that’s why Harcroft is over-registered 3 times each year)
Bad, because I can imagine more than a few schools that could do with that kind of funding.
2. Tony, it’s not a fear that vernacular schools are better. They ARE better and that’s a fact.
I would accept with all my heart for my boys to go back to my alma mater, KE VII, if it was still as good as it was 20 years ago. Unfortunately, the Education Ministry has managed to screw it up, together with all the missionary schools in the country.
3. Actually there is a solution but it will never be implemented due to politics.
I will agree to abolishment of vernacular schools with the condition:
Put some Chinese in charge of revamping the Education Ministry. We Chinese have always prioritised education above all things for the past 3000 years, from the time Officials were selected based on their examination results.
Let’s put meritocracy at the top of everything.
Also, it doesn’t help if 40% of the syllabus is about a racial agenda. Why is there 5 chapters in Sejarah about Islam civilisation? We never had this in the 80s. Why start now?
Islam is a great religion, but certain Muslims in Malaysia make a mockery of it. We should learn about ALL civilisations, at least our children will be better informed and well-rounded instead of just knowledgeable about 1 religion.
4. It seems the proponents of the 1 school system here are also pro-PAGE.
The PAGE people are dreaming if they think they can achieve progress. As long as the DPM is more concerned about Malay votes, PAGE is dead in the water.
People like Ai Tze are too idealistic and have their heads in the clouds.
Science and Maths in English is possibly the ONLY good thing Dr. M did in his 22 years. But as we all know, politics takes priority instead of the country’s future.
So in the meantime, we parents have to be PRACTICAL and send our children to the best school possible, which is Harcroft and co.
This is called DOING SOMETHING within your means. Not fighting for some idea which may not happen in your lifetime.
Why do you think the government allowed private schools to flourish? You would be stupid if you can’t figure it out by reading my analysis.
Which brings me to the last point, Mr. Bean.
An aberration?
5. The Federal Constituion provides for the freedom of vernacular education.
As for Malay parents who admit their children to vernacular schools. I spoke to my son’s classmates’ parents. They are happy their son is there. They know it too that this school is better. So what if he speaks Mandarin instead of BM? Doesn’t make the boy any less Malay or Malaysian.
Footnote: Mr. Bean, KE VII was not known for it’s chess team. We were the best in rugby, football, hockey, tennis and managed the time to get the prettiest girls too.
You won because I was not there to play you.
Fancy a game?
