PETALING JAYA: The mastery of Bahasa Melayu (BM) among students is not a problem in Dual Language Programme (DLP) schools, say stakeholders.
MCA Youth secretary-general Saw Yee Fung said all DLP schools would have met the requirement of ensuring that their students’ BM proficiency had achieved the national average level.
“I don’t see the rationale and justification in the Education Minister’s statement. The current DLP guidelines already have the complete set of criteria that ensure classes run smoothly.
“There are many more Memperkasa Bahasa Melayu (MBM) programmes that can and have been implemented to uphold students’ mastery in BM.
“The DLP is clear-cut. It should not be used as a tool for students to learn BM,” she said.
Saw was responding to Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s statement on Dec 21 that field visits made by the ministry showed that there were students in DLP schools who had not achieved a basic level of proficiency in BM and their mother tongue.
The minister said DLP schools must ensure that its implementation did not hinder other students’ access to learning Science and Mathematics in the national language or their mother tongue.
The DLP issue resurfaced recently with stakeholders questioning the latest requirement for its implementation.
On Dec 19, Saw revealed at a press conference that full-DLP school officials had been told to include a mandatory non-DLP class in the next academic year as part of the criteria to hold the DLP.
“If the minister believes that making a non-DLP class compulsory is meant to improve students’ BM proficiency, the concern is that, aren’t you forcing them to study in a language they are not good at?” she said.
Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said DLP schools were allowed to exist because they had met all criteria, including the strict BM requirement.
“If the minister is of the opinion that BM proficiency has dropped among students in DLP schools, then the onus is on BM teachers and teachers of subjects in BM to conduct programmes under MBM to achieve the desired level.
“The focus should instead be on improving the BM proficiency in 80% of primary and 67% of secondary schools that are unable to apply to become DLP schools because they are unable to meet the strict BM criteria,” she said.
Centre for Vernacular School Excellence director Arun Dorasamy said the ministry should elaborate on the “field visits” carried out to establish the downward trend in students’ BM proficiency.
“The aim of the DLP includes enhancing English proficiency. Are you suggesting that efforts to improve English skills also have an impact on the Malay language? What exactly is the connection between the two?
“I strongly suggest that the ministry acknowledge that parents have the right to determine the type of education their children should get,” he said.
SJK(T) Vivekananda Parent-Teacher Association chairman Vicknesan Ayapan said the ministry would be inadvertently depriving parents of new Year One students of their rights to educate their children specifically in English for Science and Maths.
“To pre-emptively announce a mandatory non-DLP class for Year One and Form One students in the 2024/2025 academic session seems to be counterintuitive to the DLP implementation guidelines.
“If the four criteria within the guidelines are met, there should be no issue in continuing DLP classes in the school, 100% or otherwise.
“As parents, our humble request is for the existing guidelines to be retained so that there is clarity and stability in the implementation,” he added.
Currently, to qualify for DLP, schools must fulfil the criteria set by the ministry, which include having enough resources, a plan to ensure that the programme is sustainable, and parents’ consent, as well as meeting the minimum BM requirement.
British Graduate Association Malaysia treasurer S. Meyyappa Manickam said the choice of enrolling in a DLP class should be left to parents.
“It shouldn’t be dictated by the school nor the state Education Department.
“The creation of non-DLP classes removes the exclusivity of the school of practising the DLP system 100% and it could pave the way to create more non-DLP classes in future, which defies the objective of producing quality graduates and preparing for the workforce, especially in the international stream,” he said.
Announced in Budget 2016, the DLP was introduced to improve the English proficiency of students through the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in that language, as well as to increase their employability and ability to compete globally.
It was one of the initiatives under the Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening the English Language (better known by its Malay abbreviation MBMMBI) policy.
There are currently 2,420 DLP schools – 1,613 primary and 807 secondary – in the country.
