Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email The following press statement was removed hours after it was posted on MOE website. (Un)Luckily, it was captured in BERNAMA and reported by Malaysiakini.
The truth hurts, doesn’t it?
Maybe this is also part of the reason why MIC talks about relocating schools and building new blocks only, but never about new schools.
We can say similar things (not follow national education philosophy, not using national language, not using national exam) about international and private schools in Malaysia. But these schools seem to be increasing in numbers instead of maintaining status quo or decreasing.
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The Malaysiakini report:
An education ministry statement on its website on the rejection of a proposal to revive an independent Chinese high school in Pahang was taken down a few hours after it was posted.
The statement by the ministry’s corporate communications department said the proposal was turned down because it was government policy not to increase the number of independent Chinese schools.
The ministry was responding to a report on the proposal by Chinese daily China Press on Dec 29, 2010.
The statement was spotted on the education ministry website this afternoon and several major Chinese dailies ran news flashes on the matter.
It was taken down from the website a few hours later, with no explanation being given.
However, the statement was archived by national news agencyBernama and can be accessed through its ‘Response From Government Agencies’ page.
Asked about the statement, Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong confirmed that it was retracted.
“It is no longer there. It was taken down,” he said when contacted.
“It is a major decision… everything will be announced by the prime minister or deputy prime minister (later).”PM approved proposal
China Press’s exclusive report said that the Pahang Chinese community were urging the government to approve the application for the school as they have been waiting for the greenlight since September last year.
The report quoted United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) Pahang chairperson as saying that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had approved the establishment of the school as a branch of the Kuala Lumpur Chong Hwa independent high school.
A piece of land, donated by the community, had already been earmarked for the school.
However, the education ministry statement states that the proposal “cannot be considered either now or in the future” because it is government policy to continue the status quo, which is maintaining the current number of independent Chinese high schools at 60.
“The government wants to see unity and mutual respect among different races. Hence, the government encourages all ethnic groups in this country to study in fully-aided government schools or national schools,” read the statement.
The statement pointed out that independent Chinese high schools do not use the education ministry syllabus, adopt Mandarin as the teaching medium and their students sit for an independent examination operated by Dong Zong.
Fishing for Chinese votes?
It adds that fully-aided public schools are capable of absorbing any increase in student population in the area.
Previously, there were eight independent Chinese high schools in Pahang that were maintained by the Chinese community but all were closed down due to various reasons.
The Chinese community there made several attempts to revive these schools since the 1990s to no avail.
Their hopes were reignited after the Najib administration provided greater recognition of independent Chinese high schools by allowing United Examination Certificate (UEC) graduates to enroll in teacher training colleges.
For the first time ever, the federal government also awarded scholarships for high-scoring UEC graduates.
This has been widely seen as an attempt to shore up support from the Chinese community ahead of possible snap polls.
