Multiculturalism and Education in Malaysia

Any changes to Malaysian education system would definitely be met with oppositions from the society especially when the changes concern the identities of the multi races in the country. This is pointed out by Marzuki Mohammad (2006) “more often that not, as communities are quick to defend their own culture against any perceived or real threat to its longevity, any attempt at culture will inevitably invite protests and resistance from sections within communities. Such resistance will eventually revive group’s cultural and widen the cultural gap between each community.” In answering this question, I will only discuss a few major problems that the Ministry of Education has faced which are related to Multiculturalism.

The first problem encountered by the Ministry of Education was choosing the language of instruction in schools to get across the different races. Although Article 152 of Federal Constitution stated that the National Language shall be the Malay language and that the language is to be used for all official purposes, there is no policy that prohibits or prevents the using, teaching or learning of other languages besides the Malay language. However, the aftermath of the racial riots in May 1969 saw the implementation of Malay language in schools as a way to promote national unity though in vernacular schools, their own languages were allowed to be used in the classroom.

The second problem was the national and vernacular schools which cater for different races. The Barnes Report (1951) recommended that a national public school system should be created as an instrument for building a common Malayan nationality. However, this was counterattacked by the Fenn-Wu Report which suggested that the vernacular schools should continue with Malay and English be taught alongside. Later The Razak Report proposed that vernacular education is to be allowed at primary and secondary level but using a common curriculum and this proposal was accepted and given effect by the 1957 Education Ordinance.

The third problem was when the Ministry of Education proposed the construction of the Vision Schools, where a Malay primary school would share a compound and some facilities such as a canteen, hall and playing field with Chinese and Tamil schools. The Ministry hoped that this could promote ethnic interaction and integration of the races outside their exclusive classroom environment. Again this was met with opposition fro the Chinese educationalist movement which suspicious of the government “hidden agenda….to have a single medium of instruction in all schools”.

“Multiculturalism is a delicate and multifaceted issue.” Mohamad pointed out. In order for multiculturalism to penetrate into our education system, proper planning and implementation should be done to ensure that Multicultural education becomes effective and meaningful to the students and the society. “People want to change: yet they are also afraid of change, especially if it comes quickly or if they feel they have little control or influence over it.” Ornstein & Hunkins (1993) acknowledged. If change needs to be done especially when it deals with multiculturalism, the information about the change should be clearly expressed and spread widely as to avoid the information from being distorted and misunderstood by the society. Meetings with the different racial groups should be done earlier before the implementation of multicultural education to take into account what the groups have to say about the program. The outcome of these meetings might benefit the Ministry of Education as changes could be made to the program to “tide up the loose ends” before being implemented.

Surah Al Balad verse 8 – 10, “Have We not made for him a pair of eyes? And a tongue, and a pair of lips? And shown him the two highways?” reveals that besides giving us the faculties, Allah also gave us the judgment by which we can choose our way. We should not be clouded by racial contempt when deciding the best for the education of our students as the repercussion of our decisions is irreversible. Multicultural education might be the answer to the racial diversity to produce a united Malaysian national and any direction to promote it should be protected.