Halt education blueprint, cry Muslim groups
A pro-Umno coalition of Muslim pressure groups have called on the government to halt the e ducation blueprint as the plan appears to be unconstitutional.
A pro-Umno coalition of Muslim pressure groups have called on the government to halt the education blueprint as the plan appears to be unconstitutional.
“Gabungan NGO Islam-Melayu urge the government to suspend implementation of the education blueprint 2013-2025 until the issue of vernacular schools is settled in accordance with the federal constitution.
“We are concerned that the blueprint is illegal because it clearly contravenes the constitution, and its implementation will threaten national integration that is the aspiration of every Malaysian,” said the coalition member Dzulkarnain Taib (right), president of Kelab Wartawan Muda.
He slammed Deputy Education Minister II P Kamalanathan for claiming that the government will continue to assist vernacular schools saying ths statement was “ultra vires and most regrettable”.
“As one who holds an education portfolio he ought to be knowledgeable about the matter of vernacular schools in view of the federal constitution, but his ignorance has become a liability to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s balanced cabinet.
The blueprint was spearheaded by Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and unveiled on Sept 11 last year.
Dzulkarnain said that all ministers should make all their decisions based on the constitution and not on their own “feelings”.
In the same breath, he added that all Malaysians should familiarise themselves with the provisions in the constitution that “guarantees the rights of every citizen”.
'We support Umno but...'
He declared the coalition to be firmly supportive of Umno and BN, but said it would not support any policy that contravenes the constitution.
The groups have been demanding all week that Najib retract his pre-election promises to the Chinese community in particular on the issue of vernacular schools, claiming that the Chinese had broken their promise to vote for BN.
Najib himself has demonised the Chinese community as the ones responsible for BN’s poor showing in the last general election, where the coalition won by a slim majority but lost on the popular vote.
Yesterday MCA Youth chief and former deputy education minister Wee Ka Siong slammed the coalition’s statements as “extreme” and “inflammatory”
Meanwhile a coalition of NGOs Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) noted that the Malay-Muslim group’s call as racist and not in line the the latter’s purported Islamic ideals.
MCA 'lost right' to comment on Chinese education
