Education Ministry welcomes Court of Appeal decision on vernacular schools

KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry welcomes the Court of Appeal decision that vernacular schools are constitutional, the Dewan Rakyat was told.

Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying said Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools will continue operating and use the languages as its medium for instruction in teaching.

“The Education Ministry welcomes the decision this morning that unanimously dismissed the appeal filed by four non-governmental organisations (NGO) that the use of Chinese and Tamil languages in vernacular schools was unconstitutional,” she said before her scheduled response during the question and answer session in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 23).

Earlier Thursday, the Court of Appeal ruled that vernacular schools are constitutional, dismissing the appeal of four NGOs which sought to declare that the use of Chinese and Tamil languages as the medium of instruction in vernacular schools goes against the Federal Constitution.

A three-member panel comprising Justices Supang Lian, M. Gunalan and Azizul Azmi Adnan handed down the decision.

In the court’s decision, Justice Azizul said vernacular schools were not a public authority and, as such, the use of Tamil and Mandarin languages as the medium of instruction for teaching in those schools was constitutional.

The Court of Appeal had earlier fixed Thursday to decide on the appeal by four NGOs, including the Islamic Education Development Council (Mappim), over the issue of vernacular schools and the use of Mandarin and Tamil in the schools involved.

Mappim, Gapena, Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) and Ikatan Guru-Guru Muslim Malaysia (I-Guru) were appealing against the decision of the Kuala Lumpur and Kota Baru High Courts that dismissed their suits in December 2021 and May 2022, respectively.