Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, at the DAP Ceramah on Education Bill 1990, in Muar at on Sunday, 10th June 1990 at 10 a.m.
DAP calls for the 1990 Education Bill to accord recognition to the MICSS Examination Certificate for purposes of teacher training and local higher education studies
In a review of the education law and system to formulate the Education Bill 1990 which is to affect the future of the coming generations of Malaysians, one of the objectives should be to redress the injustices and unfairness of the present education system which has denied to Malaysians equal access to educational opportunities.
It is scandalous that Malaysian parents have to spend over a $1 billion for the education of their children in foreign countries, because they could not get free, fair and equal access to higher education opportunities in their own country.
A new Education Bill which is to influence the educational future of the country for the next few decades would be highly defective if it allows such a gross educational injustice to fester and deteriorate.
The new Education Bill 1990, therefore, should incorporate a new higher education policy whereby the Government should aim to slash the number of Malaysian students who have to study abroad by half in the next five years, by opening up and creating available university and higher education places for them in the country.
This will greatly save Malaysia’s foreign exchange, and remove the great source of national disunity in Malaysia stemming from deep dissatisfaction and alienation because of an unfair and discriminative higher education policy in Malaysia.
In adopting a new higher education policy, the Government should also adopt an entirely new, open and enlightened attitude to the question of mother-tongue education at secondary and post-secondary levels.
For instance, the Government must accord full recognition to the great role that has been played by the 60 Chinese Independent Secondary Schools in the educational development and training of qualified manpower for Malaysia’s development needs.
In this connection, the Government should accord recognition to the Unified Examination Certificate of the Malaysian Independent Chinese Secondary Schools (MICSS) which is increasingly securing international academic recognition.
The Unified Examination Certificate of MICSS is recognized or accepted by over 30 universities, polytechnics, or examination board of professional bodies in the United Kingdom; by over 30 universities in the United States; as well by Taiwan, Japanese tertiary institutions.
The Malaysian Government should itself accord recognition to the MICSS as a basis for entry into the local universities and teacher training colleges.
DAP therefore calls on the MCA, Gerakan and SUPP Ministers to ensure that in the 1990 Education Bill, official recognition is accorded to MICSS by the government.