Speech(Part 2) by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, at the official opening of the Pahang DAP State Leadership ‘Party Reform’ conference held at Centrepoint, Temerloh on Sunday, January 12, 1992 at 10 a.m.
DAP proposes five principles for the new 1992 Education Act
The Education Minister, Datuk Dr.Sulaiaman Daud, said that the Cabinet Committee on the new Education Act has completed its work, and that the new 1992 Education Bill has been sent to the Parliamentary Draftman’s Chambers. Dr.Sulaiman Daud said he did not know how long it would take before the final Bill could be submitted to the Cabinet.
DAP proposes that the Government should accept the following five principles for the new 1992 Education Act:
Firstly, the Bill would be made public to allow for at least two months of public study and discussion before the Bill is tabled in the Dewan Rakyat for second reading for parliamentary debate and adoption;
Secondly, the new Education Act should clearly and specifically remove the ‘final objective’ of having Bahasa Malaysia as the main medium of instruction in all primary and secondary schools;
Thirdly, the new Education Act should give recognition to the Constitutional right, basis, status and guarantee for Chinese and Tamil primary schools and mother-tongue education as provided for in Article 152 of the Malaysian Constitution;
Fourthly, the new Education Act should classify all schools, including Chinese and Tamil primary schools, as national primary schools instead of the present nomenclature as national-type primary schools;
Fifthly, the new Education Act should give full recognition to the great contribution played by the over a thousand Chinese primary schools and some 60 odd Chinese Independent Secondary Schools in the national development of Malaysia in the developemnt of human resources by (i)ensuring that Chinese primary schools get full and adequate development funds;(ii) the building of new Chinese primary schools to meet the needs of the people;(iii) the building of new Chinese Independent Secondary Schools as for instance in Petaling Jaya or restoration of previous Chinese Independent Secondary Schools as in Segamat; (iv) the provision of annual funding by the Federal Government with no strings attached to all the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools.
DAP calls on the five MCA and Gerakan Ministers in the Cabinet to ensure that all these five principles are accepted when the final Bill is brought to the Cabinet for approval.