Parents relieved ministry okays programme

PETALING JAYA: Parents are breathing a sigh of relief now that the Education Ministry has announced that the Dual Language Programme (DLP) will go on.

Leong Mun Yoong, 56, expressed relief with the announcement, saying that the programme should continue as it gave students an option to learn another language.

“It gives them an advantage if they further their studies overseas,” said Leong, who has a daughter in Form Five.

He said it was important to be able to communicate in English, adding: “It is important for the future generation to pick up the language without forgetting their mother tongue.

“This is also in line with the Government’s aspiration of wanting Malaysia to become a globalised nation.”

Mother of two Kumuthini Marap­pan, 40, echoed Leong’s stand.

She enrolled her second son, a Year One pupil, into the same DLP school in Ipoh as her eldest, as she believes it is beneficial for them to learn Mathematics and Science in English.

“I was disheartened when I was told by a teacher that the prog­ramme was apparently postponed.

“We don’t want our children to face culture shock when they enter secondary school and university as subjects will be taught in English.

“The DLP is a good programme, I hope there won’t be any flip-flop to this policy,” she added.

However, Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim wanted to know why the newly-­approved schools could only start DLP classes for Year One and Form One.

“Have the current Year Four of the selected DLP schools been made into sacrificial lambs to pacify the anti-DLP group or those seeking a lawsuit against the Education Ministry?

“DLP is not forced onto those who do not want to pursue the prog­ramme and those who oppose it could go ahead with non-DLP classes,” she said in a statement.

She pointed out that the ministry should honour their guidelines for the programme and “not cave in to parties which are not stakeholders in the first place”.

“Be true to the principle of the Education Act 1996 which states, ‘that pupils are to be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents’ and do it sincerely,” she said.