KUALA LUMPUR: A national tahfiz council will be proposed at the coming Cabinet meeting along with the resolutions drawn up during Umno’s Bumiputra Education Congress, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the move to elevate bumiputra education should not be viewed as denying the rights of other races.
“We are not saying that past education policies have failed the bumiputras. But we need to create a surge based on bumiputra successes to ensure our survival for the next 100 years.
“When Umno celebrates our 100 years in existence, we want to be able to look back to what we have resolved to do today,” he told reporters yesterday after the closing ceremony of the Bumiputra Education Congress held in conjunction with Umno’s 80th anniversary.
Ahmad Zahid said the resolutions at the Bumiputra Education Congress must be turned into national agendas.
“We are not denying the rights, needs and opportunities of other races as that would be narrow-minded,” he said.
On the proposed national tahfiz council, Ahmad Zahid said the experiment to place tahfiz graduates into the mainstream Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system has shown the possibility of creating professionals among them.
“When there is a national tahfiz council, the tahfiz institutions would be better coordinated,” he said in reference to the problems faced by many tahfiz.
Earlier in his speech, Ahmad Zahid said bumiputra education includes the question of the Malay race’s survival.
“A strong race is not in its numbers but in its knowledge and ingenuity.
“The challenge today in the education system is not in creating jobs but to ensure that the education is in line with the changes of the world when they graduate,” he said.
If Umno were to fail today, Ahmad Zahid said bumiputra children would fail in their lives and be left behind economically.
He said bumiputra education should have three mandates – create a sound human being, build an economy with skilled labour and market value, and become nation builders.
“There is no point having an educated clever bumiputra but without soul.
“There should also be more emphasis on preschool education,” he added.
On the Negri Sembilan political crisis, Ahmad Zahid said that the statement by the three Negri Umno wings (of no-confidence against the Mentri Besar) is not the party’s position.
“That is their own statement. The position taken by the Umno assemblymen (to support the unity government) is a party decision and that has to be respected.”
