KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — DAP MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid had today urged Umno Youth to better understand the education system in Malaysia before calling for the establishment of a single-stream school system to replace vernacular schools.

Highlighting the diversity of the education system, the Bukit Bendera MP said it is important to understand why parents prefer sending their children to vernacular schools compared to national schools.

"I would like to suggest to Umno Youth to first understand why vernacular schools are the choice of most parents who want quality education for their children.

"These parents include former Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki,” she said, referring to Asyraf Wajdi’s children studying in a Chinese vernacular school.

The Bukit Bendera MP’s statement came after Umno Youth yesterday called for the abolition of vernacular or national-type schools, promoting instead a single-stream to strengthen racial integration and unity.

Syerleena said the problem with national schools is its infrastructure where the government has to make special allocations to improve school toilets.

"Such things are almost unheard of in vernacular schools as funds are raised on their own and infrastructure problems are solved on their own,” Syerleena said in a statement.

Syerleena also cited several downsides to national schools over vernacular schools, including a lack of teaching staff leading to overcrowded classrooms and a syllabus that fails to prepare students for the real world.

In addition, she cited a lack of resources in national schools that affects the quality of a student’s educational experience.

"There is a gap in the quality of education between urban and rural areas in the national education structure that breeds a wide socio-economic gap,” she said.

Syerleena said there are several priorities for national schools to play a role in improving and strengthening national unity.

She called for a focus on infrastructure investment in national schools to create a conducive environment for an effective educational process.

In addition, she proposed better education and having a skilled teaching staff, allocation priorities to ensure that national schools receive sufficient financial allocations and equitable education to bridge the urban-rural gap.

Yesterday, Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh reportedly said that vernacular schools that represent certain races such as Chinese (SJKC) and Tamil (SJKT) national-type schools were hampering national unity.

He said the abolition of these national-type schools into a single-stream will strengthen racial integration and unity.

According to Dr Muhamad Akmal, Malaysians have been differentiated according to the various school streams since childhood.