PETALING JAYA: Year One pupils in Chinese primary schools or SJK(C) should be guaranteed at least 12 Chinese language periods a week under the 2027 curriculum, rather than leaving the decision to individual schools, says MCA.
"Allowing schools to provide 12 periods is not the same as guaranteeing that every school will do so. Parents and teachers need a consistent national policy," its secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon (pic) said in a recent statement.
He said reducing the minimum allocation from 12 to 10 periods raised concerns over whether pupils would receive sufficient Chinese language instruction.
It was previously reported that an implementation brief for the 2027 school curriculum showed that Chinese language lessons for Year One pupils would be reduced from 12 to 10 periods weekly, matching the allocation for Bahasa Malaysia (BM).
Chong acknowledged Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh's explanation that the 10-period allocation was only a minimum and that headteachers could allocate additional periods.
He also noted that the ministry had reached an understanding with Chinese primary school heads' organisations to prioritise two additional periods for Chinese language lessons.
However, he said the arrangement should be formalised in an official curriculum directive, with practical timetable guidance and support for schools facing staffing or scheduling difficulties.
Chong also urged the ministry to review teaching materials, curriculum content and assessment requirements to ensure sufficient Chinese language instruction without placing excessive demands on pupils and teachers.
He called for broader consultations involving Chinese education organisations and teachers, as well as a mechanism to monitor pupils' progress, lesson allocations and teacher workloads after implementation.
Chong said Article 152 of the Federal Constitution recognised BM as the national language while protecting the teaching and learning of other languages.
He stressed that MCA supported education reforms aimed at strengthening pupils' overall development, including character education, which could complement Chinese language learning.
"The ministry must now translate its assurances into clear written requirements.
"A national curriculum should give every school the guidance and support to deliver the language education pupils need," he said.
Apart from the changes to language lesson allocations, the revised curriculum also introduces a daily 15-minute character-building programme before recess and a new subject combining nature and humanity, which will be jointly taught by two teachers for six periods a week.
The implementation brief had initially indicated that the character-building programme would be conducted in BM across all primary school streams.
However, Wong subsequently clarified that the programme would be conducted in the respective schools' mediums of instruction, meaning Chinese in SJK(C), Tamil in Tamil primary schools and Bahasa Malaysia in national type schools.
