Question for Parliament by Lim Kit Siang, Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka(2)
The DAP Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, who had submitted 77 questions for answer by the various Ministers in the parliamentary meeting beginning next Tuesday(8th August 1972), has asked many questions concerning education-apart from questions concerning Malacca, foreign affairs, economy, etc.
Some of these questions are:
1. To ask the Minister of Education whether, in view of the shockingly deteriorating standard and quality in Malaysian secondary and primary schools, the Ministry would recommend to the Cabinet the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the standards of education of the 1.7 million primary and secondary school students to find ways and means to upgrade the quality of education of young Malaysian.
2. To ask the Minister of Education whether
(a) the Government would discontinue its undesirable practice of naming schools after Alliance politicians and Cabinet Ministers, to perpetuate one’s own memory whether famous or notorious; and that no school would be named after a politician or Minister until he has ceased to be an active politician;
(b) he would direct the change of the names of schools which had been named after living politicians, as for instance, there are at least ten schools named after Inche Khir bin Johari, the former Minister of Education, to conform with the new ruling.
3. To ask the Minister of Education whether he is aware that there had been widespread unhappiness and frustration in the campus of the University of Malaya during the start of the new university year, over the intake of students on racial percentage basis, and to state what steps his Ministry has taken to ensure that there is fair, just and equitable intake of students into the University of Malaya.
4. To ask the Minister of Education what concrete steps are being taken to ensure that there are sufficient teachers in the secondary and primary schools fluent in Bahasa Malaysia to teach the various subjects to students of national-type(English) schools so that the student will receive the education they deserve, and not as of now, where many student are being taught little for the simple reason that their teachers do not know enough Bahasa Malaysia to impart their knowledge and experience.
5. To ask the Minister of Education whether there are any plans to discontinue or modify the present system of automatic promotion, as it has caused many students to be promoted when they have failed to acquire the minimal standard warranting such promotion.
6. To ask the Minister of Education why was it necessary for candidates of the L.C.E. and M.C.E. examination to write their names on their examination scripts, when during examinations conducted previously, examinees need only write their index numbers; and to state whether the Ministry would revert to the old system dispensing with the needs for examinees to write their names as to foster confidence in the honesty and fairness in the correction of examination papers.
7. To ask the Minister of Education whether he had received representations from the National Conference of Heads of Secondary Schools in West Malaysia which met in Malacca at the end of June urging the government to abolish lower secondary school fees to allow every Malaysian child to school up to 15 years old, and to state whether the Ministry would set up a committee to study the adoption of such a proposal.
8. To ask the Minister of Education the reason for the closure for the Agricultural Faculty in the University of Malaya; and whether it would not have been more desirable to have allowed the Agricultural Faculty to continue so that agricultural students and researchers could mingle with fellow students and researchers from another disciplines, like economics, engineering, medicine, science, which would not be possible in a university solely devoted to agriculture.