KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — The United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong) is being selective in arguing for parental choice in their opposition to Dual Language Programme (DLP) in vernacular schools, the chief executive of a public policy think tank said today.

Wan Saiful Wan Jan who heads the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs said it is “irrational” for the Chinese school board association to oppose the right of parents who are in favour of the DLP, but insists that parents have a right to choose a vernacular education for their children.

While he said Dong Zong has the right to “defend” the Chinese school system, he pointed out that it must also concede that vernacular schools are only relevant if they exist on the basis of voluntary choice by parents.

“If Dong Zong opposes parental choice, then what right do they have to say that parents must be given a choice for vernacular schools?” he asked in a statement.

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“If parents want to send their children to a vernacular school, or if they want to join the DLP, Dong Zong should champion this right. They should not be stuck with the old mindset of championing parochial interests. It is time to move on from that narrow paradigm,” Wan Saiful added.

Under the DLP, parents can choose if their children should be taught Science and Mathematics in English, so long as the government-aided schools have the resources to provide the service.

But last week, Dong Zong submitted a formal objection against the DLP to the Education Ministry, arguing that the programme would affect the students’ proficiency in their own mother tongue in vernacular schools.

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Dong Zong said it had collected signatures from 1,004 out of the 1,298 Chinese secondary schools in the country opposing the DLP.

According to Wan Saiful, there were 76 secondary vernacular schools that recently participated in the DLP.

He applauded the move, saying it was a positive sign that parents were making conscious choices to ensure their children received quality education.

There are currently 1,288 Chinese-medium primary schools in the country.

There are no public secondary schools where Chinese is the medium of instruction. However, there are 60 private-run secondary schools that teach in Mandarin.