‘Multi-stream education to nation’s advantage’

PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should recognise multi-­stream education as Malaysia’s advantage instead of insisting that it hinders national unity, says MCA MP Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

“Many renowned education experts have proven that children learn better in their mother tongue.

“SJKC is also a platform for the Chinese community to pass on Chinese traditions and culture to the next generation,” said the MCA deputy president in a statement.

Dr Wee urged DAP leaders to stand up to the Prime Minister in defending education in one’s mother tongue.

Such education should not be considered unpatriotic, he said.

Dr Mahathir’s statement paved the way for the return of Sekolah Wawasan, he added

“Sekolah Wawasan brings students of all races together under one roof to create the impression of a united and harmonious Malaysia,” he said.

Dr Wee was responding to Dr Mahathir’s statement during a dialogue with the Malaysian diaspora in Thailand on Thursday.

Dr Mahathir said vernacular schools had been a stumbling block to unity as it segregates students by race.

“At the beginning, we wanted to have just one national school system.

“However, some people insisted that they be allowed to follow their own culture, the culture of the countries they came from,” said Dr Mahathir at the Oct 25 event which was aired live on Astro Awani.

“We allowed that, so that resulted in three main streams – the national school where the medium is Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese schools with Mandarin as the medium and Tamil schools.

“This meant that different races go to different schools. They don’t get to know each other and when they leave school, they go to work with people of other races with whom they have had little or no contact. This stands in the way of national unity,” he added.