DEC 13 — Changes to the number of minutes for BM classes in Chinese primary schools again? What about the DPM’s promise? How about the 240 minutes previously agreed on?

The education ministry has through the Education Blueprint proposed to increase the period of BM lessons for Chinese and Tamil primary schools in Standard 4 to Standard 6 from 180 minutes a week to 270 minutes. This proposal has met with strong objection from many Chinese associations in the country.

The Chinese community has yet to reach an accord on the ideal time period, but the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Hua Zong), the United Chinese School Teachers Association (Jiao Zong), Kesatuan Kebangsaan Guru-Guru Besar Malaysia, etc are fighting for 210 minutes while the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) and some Chinese associations insist on 180 minutes. Meanwhile, some in the Chinese associations, educational or political circles are of the opinion that we should not just set our sights on the period of BM classes, but also the design and content of the curriculum as well as the issue of availability of qualified teachers.

Having taken into consideration the views of the Chinese community, the education ministry subsequently decided to fix the number of minutes for BM classes in Chinese primary schools at 240 minutes per week. Although there is still some disparity between this and what the Chinese community has expected, DPM cum education minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has at least made some compromise having evaluated the feedback from all sectors, and the Chinese community will have to accept the solution in order to bring this matter to a rest so that the schools can concentrate on arranging the timetables and allocation of teachers.

However, with less than a month to go before the start of the new academic year, some Chinese primary schools in Kedah have received oral and e-mail instructions to set the BM classes at 270 minutes a week. It is generally believed that the state education department has failed to implement the decision made by the DPM while ignoring the will of the Chinese community.

From what we understand, Chinese primary schools in other states have yet to receive the official notification from the respective education departments, and it is yet to know whether the decision made has been adopted unanimously by all states.

So, is it 240 or 270? It is imperative that the education ministry clarify this in a bid to facilitate the arrangement of new academic year timetables. Most schools have not done anything on this for before an official notice is received, the 270-minute instruction still holds.

We have every reason to believe that the education ministry will honour its pledge of 240 minutes for BM each week. Other than Muhyiddin, the deputy education minister and the director-general of education have also confirmed that it would be 240 minutes.

Then why have some Chinese primary schools received notices specifying otherwise? From our previous experience, this could have been because those at state education departments have failed to implement the directive from the minister owing to lax enforcement. Such an attitude must be rectified at once.

We hope the authorities will brief us on what has actually happened, so that school principals can concentrate on arranging the timetables while the Chinese community will feel reassured. — Sin Chew Daily

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.