DAP’s Wong Shu Qi: Education issue now centres around private schools vs public schools

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — DAP lawmaker Wong Shu Qi today said that when it comes to national education, the issue lies not in vernacular schools but in the difference in quality of education and socio-economic class.

She said it was not the Education Ministry’s fault as it was trying its best but given that Malaysia is a large country and there were never enough resources for education as every school applies for more funds to improve the quality of its facilities and teaching.

“First of all I think whenever we talk about education and schools, when we're talking about schools people will straightaway ask ‘what about vernacular schools’ but I think that question is already way past the point.

“To me, the question now is public school or private school? It’s no longer national school or SJK (C) or SJK(T), but public school or private school.

“It’s a social class issue. To all the parents who can afford it, they would rather send their kids to private school,” she said at the State of Discrimination Survey 2023 launch.

She was asked about what can be done to move forward when schools are becoming less of a shared space to bridge the gap between different people.

Wong said that vernacular schools should exist to provide more options for public schools but that other platforms should exist to integrate schoolchildren further.

Last year, the High Court in Kota Baru reportedly dismissed a lawsuit by a Muslim teachers group Ikatan Guru-Guru Muslim Malaysia (I-Guru) that sought to declare vernacular schools in Malaysia unconstitutional.

According to Malaysiakini, judge Roslan Abu Bakar said that while vernacular schools could be considered public authorities, the constitutional requirement for these to use Bahasa Melayu must not be taken in isolation.

Last month, national news agency Bernama reported that the Court of Appeal heard a submission from senior federal counsel Liew Horng Bin representing the Education Minister and the government of Malaysia that the use of other languages as the medium of instruction in vernacular primary schools does not violate the Federal Constitution as the national language is still taught as a compulsory subject.

The appeal was reportedly brought by I-Guru, Islamic Education Development Council (Mappim) and the Confederation of Malaysian Writers Association (Gapena) and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma).