Penang deputy chief minister II tells off education group for being ignorant of the 'actual situation' and says DLP will lead to Tamil schools being wiped out in the country.
GEORGE TOWN: Many Tamil-medium schools have adopted the Dual Language Programme (DLP) against their wishes, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy claims after an education group says the programme is “fully optional”.
Ramasamy said Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) appeared to be unaware that several Tamil schools were not given a chance to object to the “optional” DLP.
“PAGE chairperson Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim has failed miserably to take into account the welfare of Tamil and Chinese-medium schools.
“She is not aware of the actual situation and was merely parroting government propaganda,” Ramasamy told FMT.
The DLP is a government initiative for primary and secondary schools teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) related subjects in English.
Earlier today, PAGE chief Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim called Ramasamy “careless” for not doing his homework before calling for the abolition of the DLP.
Azimah said the DLP was purely optional and it was up to the parents, teachers and school management to opt in or out.
In response, Ramsamy said he was merely helping to air the grievances of the affected parents and prevent Tamil schools from being “wiped out” in the country.
“Azimah need not lecture me on the DLP or ask me to do my homework. She is barking up the wrong tree.
“I was a senior educationist and I am well versed in the education sector, being an educator myself.
“The question I want to put to Azimah is this — has she taken into consideration the concerns the vernacular schools, i.e. the Chinese and Tamil schools, have over the DLP?
“Azimah appears to be a mere mainstream nationalist who is not concerned about the welfare of vernacular schools.
“Has she asked if the Tamil schools had taken up the DLP voluntarily? We have information that some were carried out without the parents’ consent.
“Some schools are not even qualified for the programme. Why hasn’t Azimah spoken to Chinese schools about their outright rejection of the DLP?”
To qualify for DLP, the school must have adequate learning materials; a principal and teachers willing to implement the programme; the full support of the students’ parents; and students with better than average proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia.
Ramasamy had said the ministry ought to abolish DLP as it was a threat to vernacular schools, especially Tamil schools.
He said there was no need for Tamil school students to learn STEM in English or Bahasa Malaysia as they did well in the subjects in Tamil.
Related stories:
PAGE slams Ramasamy in dual language programme row
Dual Language Programme might endanger vernacular schools
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