KUALA LUMPUR, 4 Dec 2008: Jerlun Member of Parliament Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir’s remarks about integrating vernacular and mainstream schools have been misinterpreted and made polemic by certain quarters, said Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
“Neither do the remarks have any racial connotations,” Hishamuddin, who is also Umno Youth chief, told a press conference at Parliament’s lobby today.
He said Mukhriz, who is also an Umno Youth executive committee member, was expressing his views on how to have integration among the races but the opposition had taken it out of context and made it appear as though it was a racial issue.
On 1 Dec, Mukhriz, when speaking in the Dewan Rakyat, had called for single school system to be put in place to check racial polarisation.
Presently, apart from national schools, vernacular schools catering for the various communities at the primary level are allowed to co-exist and receive government aid.
But Mukhriz’s proposal has been slammed by both the opposition parties as well as Barisan Nasional component parties such as MCA, Gerakan and MIC.
Hishammuddin added that the subject was something that had been discussed since independence but to achieve the goal, it involved many factors like land status, staffing, allocation and consensus from the various communities. — Bernama
