YOURSAY | "National unity and cultural diversity are not mutually exclusive."

Saravanan writes to Fadhlina, Anwar voicing 'strong objection' to Tamil lesson cuts

Iv4n: MIC deputy president M Saravanan, a “strong objection” should come with a strong understanding of the proposal.

Suggesting that the character-building module can simply be squeezed into moral education does not explain how teachers would deliver both properly.

The two overlap, but knowing the right answer in a lesson and practising it under pressure are different things.

A child may know that bullying is wrong but still need the courage to defend a classmate.

A child may understand responsibility but struggle to accept correction, manage anger or admit a mistake.

Character building can help children develop those habits, alongside self-discipline, resilience and respect for others.

These are skills children need throughout their lives. The proposed module would be taught in Tamil in Tamil schools.

That creates opportunities for children to express themselves and discuss real situations through Tamil. It does not automatically replace dedicated language lessons, but neither should its educational value be dismissed for a convenient political argument.

Please distinguish a minimum from a maximum. The Education Ministry said the minimum allocation for mother-tongue language classes is 10 periods, with headteachers permitted to add more.

The serious question is whether every Tamil school will have the teachers, timetable space and clear instructions needed to retain 12 periods.

Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh cited an arrangement for additional Mandarin periods. Demand an equivalent assurance for Tamil schools. Ask how teachers will be trained.

Ask how the module will work. Ask how the ministry will prevent it from becoming another exercise in memorising model answers.

Those questions would help parents far more than another declaration of outrage. Give credit where it is due, too.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has publicly assured that no Tamil schools will be closed under the Madani government.

That commitment deserves acknowledgement even as the curriculum receives scrutiny.

Tamil education deserves informed advocacy, practical safeguards and sustained follow-through.

Secure those guarantees and publish the answers. Parents need someone who can improve what happens in their children’s classrooms, not merely increase the volume outside them.

The strength of your objection will be measured by what you achieve for the children, Saravanan. Capital letters and political theatre do not count as homework.

Exile: One national education system, many mother tongues.

One has to disagree with Saravanan’s objection to the proposed reduction in Tamil language lessons.

The larger question is not how many hours should be allocated to Tamil, Mandarin or any other language, but what kind of national education system Malaysia should have in the 21st century.

All children between the ages of six and 15 should attend a common national school system, with Bahasa Malaysia as the principal medium of instruction.

English, Tamil, Mandarin and other languages should be available as second-language options, according to demand and available teaching resources.

Mother-tongue education, however, deserves separate consideration. Malaysia possesses an extraordinary linguistic heritage extending beyond Tamil and Mandarin to Hokkien, Cantonese, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Iban, Kadazan-Dusun and numerous other languages.

The government should establish a dedicated fund to support mother-tongue education through temples, mosques, churches, cultural associations and other community organisations.

These institutions could receive seed funding to develop curricula, train teachers, produce learning materials and organise language programmes outside normal school hours.

Funding should be transparent, inclusive and available to secular organisations as well.

Such an arrangement would distinguish the national responsibility to provide a common education from the equally important responsibility to preserve Malaysia's linguistic and cultural diversity.

It would also prevent language education from becoming a permanent battleground between political parties claiming to represent particular communities.

The objective should not be to diminish Tamil or any other language.

It should be to ensure that every Malaysian child shares a common educational foundation while retaining the opportunity to learn and celebrate the language of their ancestors.

One national school system need not mean one language or one culture.

National unity and cultural diversity are not mutually exclusive.

BrownWalrus3447: @Exile, good suggestion. It will work if the government removes the quota system for admission to matriculation and university. If not, after Form Five, all of a sudden you realise there are two or more systems to gain admission into matric and university by race.

How to go about national integration? You stay quiet, but that does not mean you agree with the policy. In fact, you are frustrated but can't talk too much.

Senior Citizen: To avoid these kinds of concerns, it would be useful for the Education Ministry to discuss with the relevant quarters and obtain feedback before implementing new changes.

Education and religion are always flashpoints.

I'm Tamil and am open to listening to new ideas, provided the changes bring about a greater good.

Politicians will always be looking for a way to make a point to show that they are still relevant.

Traveloka Winning: Even national schools are having their Bahasa Malaysia lessons reduced under the new curriculum plan to make space for character building and other subjects.

Why shouldn't vernacular schools adapt the same way so students can focus on broader skills?

ABC123: The reduction of two periods of Tamil classes ( or Mandarin) should be directed to the teaching subjects like English, Bahasa Malaysia, maths or science. Then it is a good move.

Apanama is back: Politicians, especially in the Madani administration, who have issues with their inconsistent character, are proposing character-building subjects. A nice joke indeed.

The subject should be taught separately without reducing the period for the mother tongue language. There is no need to do so unless your agenda is to cut down the mother tongue language, which is the right of both Mandarin and Tamil students as enshrined in our Constitution.

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