Joint Statement by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

7 February 2020

Revival of Vision School Concept should be opposed

Pupils Integration for Unity Plan should be enhanced

Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Education Tun Mahathir recently said that he hoped to implement the Vision School Concept throughout the country. In this regard, Dong Jiao Zong wishes to respond as follows:

(1)Dong Jiao Zong strongly opposes the Vision School Programme and reiterates the need to safeguard the multi-stream school education system in Malaysia. We emphasise our objection to the Vision School Programme not because we want to “segregate” students of various ethnic groups or we are against unity of the people. Instead, we are of the view that the original concept of the programme is based on the spirit of “the ultimate objective” as mentioned in the Razak Report 1956, i.e. converting Malaysia’s multi-stream schools into single-stream schools with Bahasa Malaysia used as the standard medium of instruction.

(2)Dong Jiao Zong maintains that it is completely not in accordance with the facts to allege that “multi-stream schools hinder unity of the people”. Multi-stream schools exist for upholding the principle of mother tongue education. Although schools of various streams use different languages as their media of instruction, their syllabuses are all drawn up and executed in an integrated manner by the country’s Ministry of Education such that the teaching and learning involve the same knowledge and value perspectives. At the same time, schools of various streams are open to parents of all ethnic groups so that they can freely enroll their children to study in these schools. In Chinese primary schools for example, non-Chinese pupils now make up about 18 percent of the total number of pupils. This is evidence that multi-stream schools do not hinder unity of the people.

(3)Dong Jiao Zong gives full support to activities for promoting communications and unity among students of various ethnic groups. In particular, in recent years, we have actively promoted and organised various series of cross-ethnic activities with students of various ethnic groups from different types of schools invited to take part. At the same time, Dong Jiao Zong urges the authorities concerned to strengthen and consistently carry out the widely accepted Pupils Integration for Unity Plan (RIMUP) which seeks to promote interaction among pupils of multi-stream schools through different types of activities. With this, we do not need to revive the Vision School Programme that had been rejected by the people.