Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

April 21, 2021

MOE to Redress Untrue History Learning Materials Urged—

Establishment of Cross Ethnic Experts Committee for Review Proposed

Of late, the History learning materials published by the MOE once again triggered disputes; some scholars pointed out the extant History coursebooks have long been focusing on ethnic Malay and Islam and they either provide little contents or mention nothing for other ethnic groups thus cannot reflect the inherent reality of the country. Informed by this, Dong Jiao Zong herewith urges the Ministry of Education to take immediate measures to redress the shortcomings of secondary school History coursebooks introduced by the Ministry.

In reality, the History coursebooks for primary and secondary schools published by the MOE have been known to embed strong unary element, excludability and distorted imbalance in presentation, apart from not comprehensively reflecting the country’s multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious inherence; they therefore ended up not embodying national history spirit. It not only misleads the students, but also makes it hard for new generations to genuinely and comprehensively learn about her history. Moreover, students from particular ethnic groups and Sabah as well as Sarawak will feel like being excluded and marginalised. What is happening backfires the country’s pluralistic inherence and the generated disputes have long been compromising national integrity and belongingness which is detrimental to the stability and advancement of the country. We hence believe the government needs to honestly redress and address this severe issue.

The National Unity Blueprint 2021-2030 forwarded in February this year has mentioned its intent to promote national unity via History education. In view of this, Dong Jiao Zong urges the government to honour its promises by convening learned experts and educators to set up a committee for the solution of the various problems generated by the History coursebooks, including the review of History curriculum in the National Curriculum Standard and Assessment Document (DSKP), as well as the composition of writing team for History coursebooks and supervision committee jointly formed by experts and educators from different ethnic groups including Sabahans and Sarawakians.

We believe, the rampant spread of racial and religious extremism and scurrilous speeches are caused by the unary mindset exhibited by the government in its governance over the years, yet the government has not positioned itself immediately and addressed the problems, and it is disappointing and worrying to the people. We also reckon, the government should take immediate actions and enforce preventive measures when the said matter occurs and not simply tight-lipped leaving it to worsen and ravage. Take for instance, in the recent racialisation of the Physical Exercise subject which regulated certain sports to be reserved for particular ethnic group in a national high school (Batu Pahat), the government was expected to take initiative and immediate action to redress the issue.

The secondary school curriculum standard of the MOE highlights the objectives of higher order thinking and critical thinking. Zong Jiao Zong opines, the government needs to redesign and reformulate the curricular objectives and outlines of History education in such a way to provide leeway for students to discuss, reflect and make comments in History learning, for the fostering of a ready listener for diverse views, as well as the broadening of their eyesight in a bid to develop their reasoning competency, if not more, to eventually be an open-minded person with a sense of belonging.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

April 19, 2021

Subang UMNO Division’s Ethnic Differentiation Decried—

Construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing Logical and Reasonable

Dong Jiao Zong regrets over Subang UMNO division chief Armand Azha Abu Hanifah’s calling for the opposition of the construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing (Bandar Kinrara) in Puchong Selangor and deems the act decriable. Herewith Dong Jiao Zong forwards its statement proper as follows:

1. Dong Jiao Zong posits, Bandar Kinrara is a densely populated town in which the population is predominantly Chinese. Since there is no vernacular Chinese primary school in its vicinity and the neighbouring vernacular Chinese primary schools are fully enrolled, the construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing to meet the educational needs of its Chinese population is both imminent and pressing. Dong Jiao Zong also opines, the multi stream education system belongs to the main stream of national education and is the country’s advantage, besides being assured by the Constitution. Moreover, it is also regulated in the Education Act that vernacular Chinese primary school can be constructed if need be. In this sense, the construction of vernacular Chinese primary schools in Bandar Kinrara is both logical and reasonable. Dong Jiao Zong similarly believes, Subang UMNO division chief Armand Azha Abu Hanifah’s calling for the opposition of the construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing is an ethnic-differentiation-provoking act and the incitation of racial hatred; it factually harms national unity and thus this irresponsible act should be decried severely.

As informed, racial extremism has gone rampant these years and a growing number of politicians and organisations are acting maliciously to compromise national integrity and unity, including the call for the closure of vernacular schools, the challenge of the right of vernacular Chinese and Tamil primary schools in the court and the objection of the construction of vernacular Chinese primary school. These acts are mushrooming for the worst and have brought about negative impact to the entire nation. Dong Jiao Zong reckons, the ruling Perikatan Nasional government recognises the Constitution and Rukun Negara as the basis for national unity promotion and thus in the face of these detrimental acts, it cannot simply stage a war of words but needs to put it into actions and stand out for multi stream education system at the first moment, as well as taking deterrent measures to curb and stop any harmful speeches or acts towards multi stream education system in a bid to end the continuous fracture of the pluralistic society.

Dong Jiao Zong hereby reiterates, although the medium of instruction in vernacular Chinese primary schools is Chinese, students from all ethnic groups are welcome to register for studies. Of late, the successful operation of vernacular Chinese primary schools has won the recognisation of non-Chinese parents and it saw a surge in non-Chinese student enrollment. In addition, the MOE statistics also show that there are currently 20 percent of non-Chinese students studying in vernacular Chinese primary school nationwide of which vernacular Chinese schools markedly enjoy the highest percentage of interethnic students among all vernacular schools. This very fact indicates students of different ethnic groups can learn happily together and it in actuality promotes interethnic acceptance and understanding.

Records further show, multi-stream schools have existed for over two hundred years in Malaysia; they not only enrich the characteristics of a pluralistic society but also proves that the several-decade existence of multi stream schools is never a stumbling stone to national unity. In this vein, Dong Jiao Zong urges all sectors in the country, particularly politicians, to discern the pluralistic inherence of the country as well as the existence and development of multi stream schools which indeed are congruent with the actual needs of all ethnic groups. Therefore, Dong Jiao Zong hopes that this act of using multi stream schools as an excuse to attain one’s political interests to compromise national integrity and unity needs to be halted.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

April 19, 2021

Mahathir’s Recalcitrant Education Mindset Denunciated—

Unary Thinking Backfires Education Advancement

To Dong Jiao Zong’s deepest regret, the former Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad reraised the ‘Vision School Project’ in a bid to promote unary education, insisting that mother tongue education compromises national integrity and unity. Dong Jiao Zong opines, despite assuming the Prime Minister post twice, after the debacle of the Pakatan Harapan government, Mahathir is still obsessed with the will to realise unary education in the country through the implementation of Vision School. This very fact reveals his deny of pluralistic value and ignorance of multiplicity inherence.

We realise Mahathir’s education belief is one of technological superstition that belittles humanity and embraces English learning as well as being indifferent towards pluralism. As history reveals, Mahathir being the Prime Minister had stubbornly devoted in the implementation of Vision School Project and the use of English in Science and Math teaching that ended up as failures; it not only wasted public funds and education resource for several years, but also made the students guinea pigs in his illusive experiment.  Now that he is beating over the old ground and it vividly shows his recalcitrancy and want of reflective capability, apart from his outdated education mindset which is reversing the wheel of history.

The cultural diversity of Malaysia owed much to the multi stream education preserved since independence until today which fosters generations of social pillars and is a unique resource of the country. The practice of multicultural education is a hardcore reality and cannot be denied. The attempt to administer the Vision School Project to eliminate ethnic division is factually not getting the gist and overlooking ethnic disputes generated by policy discrepancy and political hypes that widens the ethnic gap. As such, the so-called Vision School Project is an ostensible harmony at best and its core dispute is yet to be addressed.

Mother tongue is the instrumental vehicle for ethnic interactions and the emblem for one’s culture and identity. To promote mother tongue education equates the dissemination of multiculturalism. The safeguard of one’s mother tongue as well as multi stream education system translates the embodiment of identification and respect for this soil. The existence of multi stream schools owed to the persistency on mother tongue education; though their medium of instruction varies, they accord the national curriculum formulated, executed and imparted by the MOE to foster identical knowledge and value and are open to all ethnic groups for enrollment. The allegation that mother tongue education compromises national unity is unwarranted; both the government and non-government sectors should be cautious of the inconsistent policy enacted by the MOE to avoid disappointment in national education.

Our country has experienced two rounds of political turn-taking in governance, one may wonder if the national education policy will keep abreast of the times and be up-to-date. All sectors in the country are prevailingly concerned about it; if the government and private sectors have no intention to reform education thoroughly, this unary thinking will continuously corrode social foundation at the expense of students at large.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

April 15, 2021

Political Commitment from Government and Public is Called for—

Full Force Solution for Jawi Script Learning Dispute Expected

Dong Jiao Zong hereby urges both the government and private sectors to show political commitment and courage by putting their feet on the ground to solve the Jawi script dispute in full force, rather than pointing fingers at each other while staging a war of words. The fact being, 98 percent of the vernacular Chinese primary schools disagree with the Jawi script learning; the will of the parents is telling thus the MOE needs to respond as anticipated by putting the measure aside. On the other hand, government and non-government politicians are obliged to jointly push the ruling government to abandon this public opinion defiling implementation.

The recent allegation of Dong Jiao Zong’s indecisiveness in its stance on the Jawi script learning was one of unfair and unfounded which defies the truth and is misleading. As a matter of fact, Dong Jiao Zong has been consistent on its ground and never opposed to the Jawi calligraphy learning but merely disagrees with the learning approach implemented by the MOE which in actual fact defies our country’s multicultural inherence. We reckon, on the contrary, the government needs to refer to the existing Grade Five Bahasa Melayu coursebook in its introduction of calligraphies of all ethnic groups to primary students, including Chinese, Tamil, Jawi and various indigenous groups from east Malaysia as the approach is more viable, appropriate and had been approved by the Deputy Education Minister Mah Hang Soon. In the meantime, we insist that the school boards of vernacular schools should be included in decision making on the said matter; therefore, we hope the government will put the Jawi script learning implementation aside as well as convening relevant Chinese and Tamil stakeholders, let alone education representatives from east Malaysia to mull over the besetting matter.

Dong Jiao Zong has been consistent in its ground to attentively supervise educational implementation from the former Pakatan Harapan government to the present Perikatan Nasional government. Last July, the Education Minister Radzi Jidin had consented to review the Jawi script learning in vernacular schools in a parliament statement; to our regret, six months has since passed yet no follow-up is seen. Worse still, the government did not seem to hear the disagreeing voice from both the Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools as it instead posted Jawi script learning questionnaire to parents asking for decision which again generates disappointments and worries.

Witnessing the MOE’s all mouths in the matter, we sincerely hope both the government and non-government politicians are ready to be accountable as well as seeing the case from the perspective of education professionalism to jointly solve the Jawi script learning dispute. Nonetheless, Dong Jiao Zong will continue to supervise the MOE’s education implementation attentively. By the same token, Dong Jiao Zong appreciates comments and examination from all walks of life.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

March 8, 2021

Diversity Inherence Should Be Embodied in National Unity Blueprint—

Espouse Cross Ethnic Interaction to Rid of Unitary Thinking

The National Unity Strategy and National Unity Blueprint 2021-2030 (henceforth The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint) launched by the Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on 15 February contains three aspirations and 12 strategies, as well as 41 transformation strategies. The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint details the government’s action plan to achieve goals set out in the National Unity Policy, which among others, aim to foster national integration based on the key pillars of the Federal Constitution and Rukun Negara. Dong Zong opines it agreeable as the Federal Constitution is the basis of constitutional democracy and national unity which assures people the freedom of religion and the right to learn and use their mother tongue; yet the core value of Rukun Nagara is to unite the citizens to eventually create a fair and equal society thus to narrow disparities among the people while treating the cultural tradition of other ethnic groups freely. As such, the government needs to promote national unity on pluralistic ground to ensure the execution of the said policies which is complied with the spirit of the Federal Constitution and Rukun Nagara.

It goes on page six of The National Strategy and Blueprint, ‘the definition of unity is generally to create a common and unified national identity, take for instance, one nation and her language.’ Yet due to the multiracial, multilingual, multireligious and multicultural inherence of our country, the concept of ‘unity in diversity’ is emphasised in The National Strategy and Blueprint to uphold the harmony of a pluralistic society. In fact, Dong Jiao Zong reckons it narrow minded to equate national identity with unitary culture identification as it defies the multiracial reality of the country and thus backfires national integrity and social harmony. Attributed to this, Dong Zong deems the government’s taking ‘unity in diversity’ as the direction of national unity correct only that it needs to be reflected through specific policies and executive plans and not mere exuberant verbosity on paper.

In the meantime, if the ‘nation state’ mentioned on page 27 of The National Strategy and Blueprint focuses only on a unitary thinking ‘nation state’, the multiethnic inherence of the country on matters of national integrity and harmony will be folded as this model poses injustice governance and conflicts with the ‘unity in diversity’ emphasised in the document. Our country is a multiracial structured society and thus it needs to be aligned with the concept of ‘multicultural state’ so that freedom of religions and welfare will be assured for the enjoyment of prosperity and advancement no regards of ethnic groups. In this train of thought, Dong Jiao Zong herewith urges the government to clarify its position and negotiate readily with all racial communities intensively in a bid to pool opinions and ideas for the genuine practice of ‘unity in diversity’.

It is proven diversity and unity can fare abreast not contradicting each other; the fundamental prerequisites of steady development in a multiracial nation are harmony and national integrity between the ethnic groups and this must be built on fair policies or else the foundation of nation building will be eroded. As a matter of fact, since independence, all ethnic groups have long been upholding the spirit of ‘seeking common ground while reserving differences’ for nation building. Unfortunately, the ruling government has not rendered fair treatment on the educational, economic, cultural and social domain, let alone the deliberate distortion of truth committed by a sizeable number of political parties, organisations and individuals by airing racial and religious comments of extreme; they are truly in many ways impeding national unity. Weighing on this, Dong Jiao Zong posits, for the realisation of genuine national unity, the government needs to treat all ethnic groups equally; whereas on the provocation of sensitive sentiments, like the closure proposal of multi-stream schools, the government should stand out forthwith to safeguard the system and not tight-lipped as well as letting them indulge in disputes detrimental to national development.

Diverse streams of school have coexisted and advanced in our country for over two centuries; they are the precious resource and competitive advantage of the nation which enrich the characteristic of a diverse society. The existence of these schools as a phenomenon denies the claim that multiple stream education is a hinderance to national integrity and harmony since their curriculums are attuned with the national curriculum formalised by the MOE and thus sharing common core values. To our regret, this multiple stream education system is not prominently recognised in The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint, it otherwise claims that Vision Schools help racial understanding and quicken the pace of national integrity instead (The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint: 40). Dong Jiao Zong strongly disagrees with this comment and reiterates its opposition towards the establishment of Vision Schools, understanding the eventual goal of Vision Schools is to ‘gradually realise the aim of using Bahasa Melayu as the common medium of instruction for all streams of schools’ which will subsequently terminate the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction in both vernacular Chinese and Tamil primary schools. Many research findings have indicated that the implementation of Vision Schools was unsuccessful notwithstanding these schools shared common facilities, they could not withstand the long existing firewall formed by external factors over the decades and thus could not meet the objectives of effective communication and integrity in form.

We reckon that putting schools of diverse streams under one roof stubbornly is not a strategic approach; nonetheless, the contacts and interactions between the schools need to be enforced for national integrity (The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint: 39). We understand the ultimate goal of The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint is to enhance contact and interactions between all streams of schools nationwide for better mutual understanding and national integrity. In fact, all streams of schools have been holding sports meets and cross-ethnic cultural activities under the Student Integration Plan for Unity (RIMUP) and achieved fruitful results. Moreover, for the past couple of years, independent Chinese secondary schools likewise have been enforcing interactions with private religious schools initiatively through the organisation of cross ethnic activities.

Dong Jiao Zong respects the constitutional status of Bahasa Melayu as the national language and has striven hard to promote Bahasa Melayu proficiency in both vernacular Chinese primary schools and independent Chinese secondary schools. In addition, Dong Jiao Zong also urges the ruling government to intensively interact and discuss education issues with ICSS teachers and relevant education organisations thus to bring about effective Bahasa Melayu learning approaches for non-Malay learners to command the language. Similarly, we also believe the government needs to forward concrete projects to encourage students in all streams to learn more additional languages and cultures for ethnic understanding and national unity.

We affirm Bahasa Melayu as the language of national unity as emphasised in The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint and are proactively pushing the use of Bahasa Melayu in Chinese schools, yet we expect the government to fairly treat mother tongue education of other ethnic groups and should not marginalise non-Malay mother tongue education. It is pointed out in The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint, for the goal of national unity, the understanding and appreciation of national History should be observed. Unfortunately, the History coursebooks published by the MOE do not in any way reflect the reality of multiracial, multicultural and multireligious inherence. This defect should be rectified as it will end up causing the upcoming generations to misunderstand national history and worse still, be misled. Dong Jiao Zong believes that History coursebooks should be redacted in congruence with the diverse reality of the country, including the reaffirmation of dedications shown by different ethnic groups in nation building; it is intended for the foster of mutual understanding, respect and friendly cooperation towards national integrity and unity.

Dong Jiao Zong opines, if the Perikatan Nasional government intends to promote national unity, it must accept the country’s historical gene of diversity and abandons unitary ruling model thoroughly, as well as redressing enactments which harm national integrity. Moreover, the government needs to prevent racial and religious speech and acts of extreme by law aiming to improve the political ecology of the nation for cohesion such that all people can work towards a bright future altogether with concerted efforts.

Statement Released by Dong Zong

March 1, 2021

“Governance at a Deadlock without Disruptive Breakthrough, Pray Convince Us with New Vision”— Review of Perikatan Nasional Government’s Education Implementation

1.  Foreword

A year ago, the ‘Sheraton Move’ prompted the political reshuffle in Malaysia, forming an alliance government composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party, UMNO, Malaysian Islamic Party, Homeland Solidarity Party, Sabah Progressive Party and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, replacing the then ruling Pakatan Harapan government with minority advantage. While the political chaos rolls on with unaddressed issues, no light was seen in matter of multiracial relationship, and the foundation of pluralistic society is under challenged. As the Perikatan Nasional government was not mandated through election, thus no election manifesto was promised and contradiction prevails in their governing policies; Having since been weighed by the Covid-19 pandemic, no vision for the nation from the ruling government was anticipated, let alone their mission and core value narratives.

As an education institution, education-related achievements are the focuses of Dong Zong. As such, we herewith forward our reform proposal addressing the major education issues besetting the previous year. We also understand that the entire nation is expecting gratifying results from the Perikatan Nasional government.

2.  Comments on the Perikatan Nasional Government’s Major Education Policy over the Year

(1) Covid-19 Uncertainty Worsens Digital Gap, Posing Challenges towards Teaching and Learning

(a) Online teaching has still not reached its full-fledged status: The Covid-19 pandemic has messed up inherent norms and order as well as turning digital transformation and the maximisation of technology a nonreciprocal trend, inclusive of the education domain. During the ravage of the pandemic, all schools nationwide adapted the distance learning approach by switching to online teaching which later exposes the growing digital gap of the country—inequality in online teaching footing which begs for serious resource provision. Moreover, the unsuccessful “1Bestari Net” had not attained its target of promoting a 4G broadband internet coverage for the learning needs of ten thousand schools nationally and thus was later replaced by Google Classroom instead.

(b) Startling Digital Discrepancy: The Minister of Education replied in a written statement in July of 2020 pointing out that nine percent of the entire student population nationwide has no internet accessibility. Honestly, matters like the great disparity of education resources, the expense of online learning unaffordable to under privileged families, inconsistent internet coverage and the low-speed broadband internet have long been denounced. In the meantime, the digital discrepancy likewise reveals the weakness of teachers’ digital teaching as well as the absence of learning support from family members. It is understood that most students are lack of self-discipline and active learning initiative; therefore, using digital tool to attain digital competence in daily life and learning is still immature just yet.

(c) Ample Room for Improvement in Educational Broadcast Channels: In April 2020, the radio and TV broadcast of ‘TV Okey’ channel was reactivated due to the pandemic outbreak. Education programmes have since been broadcasted through Astro and NTV7 in a bid to assist students who cannot afford to go online for studies during the pandemic movement control order. Of which, in February 2021, NTV7 turned the said channel to ‘Didik TV’. Yet the channel, from its initial launching to schedule, broadcast and contents have shown inadequacy which demands long term operation planning for better and fruitful functions.

The government and private sectors should respectively forward economic relief package, home-based learning broadband support plan, studies counselling (provided by school and social welfare organisation), social workers for mental and physical health to supplement the digital disparity of under privileged students. The internet accessibility defect, viz., slow internet speed, is believed to be the outcome of consortium monopoly. Incident like student climbing up tree for better accessibility of the internet in Sabah will not repeat if serious attention is taken by the government, key facilities of broadband internet is controlled and tender reviewed for a fair competition in telecommunication industry.

(2) Inconsistency shows Hastiness in Decision Making, Empowerment is the Way out

In the face of the Covid-19 uncertainty, the MOE called a halt to the 2020 UPSR for Primary Grade Six students as well as Form Three PT3 examination and postponed the SPM, SVM and STAM twice. STPM was similarly postponed and candidates for the exam were only allowed to resume classes when the pandemic slowed down.

We basically agreed with the above measures, yet found the decision made addressing the pandemic rather impulsive, inconsistent and thus begs review. This year, school opening day was rescheduled twice and this directive had indeed put teachers, parents and students in limbo. Take for instance, after the launching of the manual for home-based learning (Manual PdPR) on the 2^nd of February demanding teachers to be amenable to the instructions, the Minister of Education instructed all schools nationwide to resume classes on the 1^st of March two weeks later, leaving teachers in hot waters.

We understand that it is impossible to forward an unanimously agreeable decision during these crazy times, yet opinions and views should be heard from stakeholders in all walks of life for acceptability of the implementation. In the meantime, we propose the government to delegate power to the lower level for schools to flexibly schedule their school opening date and learning approach in respect to the instructions and seriousness of local pandemic once the school opening directive is pronounced.

Similarly, the Ministry of Higher Education was also berated in terms of university reopening date and registration as it was inconsistent and contradictory. Dr Noraini binti Ahmad, the Minister of Higher Education is still tight-lipped though it was disclosed Malaysia ranked fifth in academic fraud worldwide. In addition, though assuming the post for over a year, she has rarely raised her views in higher education development publicly.

(3) Put Political Bias Aside, Return to Education Professionalism

Education is a matter of century-old plan; the importance of a country’s education policy lies in its sustainability and stability for gradual success and effect in an attempt to promote educational quality. In the educational realm, all has to converge towards the education profession for the learning interest of students at large. Attributed to these prerequisites, the government and opposition political parties need to let go of their political adherence for the realisation of macro political landscape as well as stopping political smearing and confrontation by willingly accept feasible educational proposals, setting good example on healthy competition in democracy. We therefore reckon, notwithstanding ruling the country for not exceeding two years, certain measures and implementation practiced by the Pakatan Harapan government should be carried forward and adapted continually:

(a) Simplification of school enrollment for stateless students: to exert the spirit of borderless human right and humanity by lowering the enrollment threshold for stateless students;

(b) Special attention towards Civic Education: to reintroduce Civic Education in both primary and secondary schools in an approach which does not incur learning burden by incorporating it into the standing curriculum using each period from Bahasa Melayu, English, History, Islamic education and Moral on the fourth week of each month for the learning of civic-related knowledge and experience;

(c) Abandonment and Reformulation of ‘The Universities and University Colleges Act’:  to review the act such that it is more academic-oriented, open-minded in managerial culture to instill new spiritual landscape into campuses for the reactivation of academic vitality; and

(d) Promotion of zero non-intake and zero non-graduation: to focus on education equality, caring for under privileged group to ensure schooling opportunity for every eligible child and proactively assist drop-outs to resume schooling to complete secondary education. For the education measures implemented by the former government, the current government is recommended to attentively and continually take a professional position that ‘espouses the right and decries the wrong’ and not to be caught in a political spin.

3. Perikatan Nasional Government’s Handling of Chinese Education Issues

(1) Inadequate Appropriation for Vernacular Chinese Primary Schools

Unlike the previous practice, the new appropriation practice bases on the number of schools, viz., not taking the number of the streams of schools as consideration (inclusive of SMJK Chinese, SMJK Tamil, Full-boarding, government-funded religious, Catholic) but equally allocating RM50 million each in response to the common needs. This practice in fact has met partial needs of the private sectors yet there is discrepancy between national and government-aided school appropriation; moreover, the unclear stance of the government in releasing construction and relocation appropriation for vernacular Chinese primary schools also accelerates backlash.

(2) Zero Appropriation for Three Privately-run Tertiary Institutions

Dong Jiao Zong posits, all the independent Chinese secondary schools and the three privately-run tertiary institutions (New Era University College, Southern University College and Han Chiang University College) are not-for-profit education institutions and they have been nurturing polymaths for national advancement over the years; yet this social-benefitting policy was terminated by the current government as no appropriation was granted to the aforementioned institutions in Budget 2021 and thus it was disappointing to the Chinese community.

(3) Shortage of Teachers in Vernacular Chinese Primary Schools Prevails

The mispresented statistics released by the MOE on teacher statistics causes the need of temporary teachers in vernacular schools to reemerge whenever new academic year begins. As such, Dong Zong urges the MOE to immediately revise the informational errors, teacher training, interview and posting as well as the recruitment of temporary teachers by forwarding a rigorous teacher shortage tracking system, reviewing teacher source and expanding the channels of teacher training.

(4) Continuity in Jawi Script Learning Approach

Ever since the Jawi script learning initiated by the Pakatan Harapan government, it has generated angsts and qualms in both the Chinese and Indian community; yet the current Perikatan Nasional government retains the decision approved by the former government on 14 August 2019 to implement the Jawi script learning in Grade Five Bahasa Melayu coursebook in all vernacular schools.

(5) Recognition of the UEC at a Deadlock

Exclusive of Malaysian Islamic Party, both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan included the recognition of the UEC in their election manifesto; on this basis, the Perikatan Nasional government should reactivate the recognition process of the UEC based on the 2018 mutual understanding agreed upon between the government and the general public.

(6) Sixteen National-type High School Are Excluded from Appropriation

Using the transfer of land ownership to the government as an excuse, nine national-type Chinese high schools were conformed as fully subsidised high schools, and seven others were categorised as national high schools as they are ‘branch’ or ‘additional’ school. Attributed to the above conformation and categorisation, these sixteen schools ended up not getting any appropriation. We opine, the government should treat these 81 national-type high schools equally and rule out the aforementioned matters by granting equal treatment to these sixteen schools.

4. Our Observation on the National Education

(1) The Reform of Education Policy

(a) Progress of several previously formed education committees undisclosed: several education committees established by the Pakatan Harapan government formerly—Jawatankuasa Dasar Pendidikan Negara (JKDPN), Universities and University Colleges Act Working Team, the Special Task Force on the Unified Examination Certificate and Malaysia Vocational Education Empowerment Committee, etc. are intended to expand advisory and encompass participation of the general public as they included experts and stakeholders from the society which actually helps in policy implementation supervision and enhances the interaction between the government and the civilians. Yet since their formation, no research report and reform have been proposed publicly and whether these committees are still operating is unknown.

(b) Redivision of the Ministry of Education: The Perikatan Nasional government once again redivides the Ministry of Education into the Education Ministry and the Ministry of Higher Education. In actual fact, during the Barisan Nasional government, it had been so designed only that the later Pakatan Harapan government had the ministry combined. And now the Perikatan Nasional government once again redivides the Education Ministry and a special department is formed to attend to higher education matters with unknown details.

With the outbreak of the pandemic and the change of ruling power in the country, the reform paces seem to come to a halt. Education is the cornerstone of nation building and education reform is the way to a powerful nation and thus these imminent matters should not be in any way delayed. For this objective, we think the government needs to enhance civilian participation by forming a committee with civilian representatives so that voices from experts and the general public will be heard; the government is also expected to disclose the progress and proposals of the aforesaid committees for the sake of public credit.

The redivision of the Ministry of education into two departments has its pros and cons; since the higher education policy decides the extension of fundamental education and they function reciprocally and thus their coordination and connection are of major importance.

(2) Care for the Lost Generation

The statistics forwarded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has revealed class suspension attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a loss of average learning time by two thirds in an academic year globally. After a year’s pandemic ravage, 800 billion students worldwide are still experiencing serious education interruptions. In 2020, students of all levels could only study at school for five to six months in our country. Our observation in response to this is as follows:

(a) Worsening Education Discrepancy: The pandemic has deepened the discrepancy between the rich and the poor educationally. As the rich can enjoy consummate online learning yet the poor are troubled by the lack of internet accessibility and facilities. The learning right of the poor is not only exploited but they are also deprived of free meals allowance. As informed by the UNESCO, after the reopening of the schools, over 30 million students still cannot attend school due to financial reason; it holds water in Malaysia inevitably.

(b) Learning and Mental/Physical Health of Students: The closedown of schools seriously affects the learning progress of students, particularly students in the process of learning fundamental skills such as reading, speaking and writing and the connection of secondary curriculum is similarly disrupted which caused a sizeable number of students lagging behind in their school age studies. Simultaneously, long term school closedown will hinder social interactions between students and severely influence students’ mental and physical health, including their personality formation.

Truly, the imminent mission of the government for the time being is to implement pandemic prevention measures; nonetheless, education is likewise important and thus a middle ground should be sought between the two. We believe, the MOE needs to set up a pandemic prevention working committee to bind all assistances and supports from different walks of life in a bid to address the many education problems faced by the ‘Lost Generation’.