Yap Mun Ching 11:33AM Oct 30, 2002

"Chinese primary schools have the same operating hours as national primary schools. So, we do not know where the three hours will have to come from," he said when contacted today.

Ling had said that the six extra periods would be fitted into free time in the existing school timetable.

The four BN parties responsible for the proposal are MCA, Gerakan, Sarawak United Peoples' Party and the Sabah Progressive Party.

Scheduling nightmare

Contacted later, Jiao Zong assistant chief executive secretary Yap Hon Kiat said the plan can still proceed because it falls within the permitted 1,500 minutes of classes a week under Education Ministry guidelines.

However, he said if the time periods currently allocated for other subjects are to remain unchanged, regular schools hours would definitely have to be extended.

"Currently, Chinese primary schools operate at only 1,350 minutes per week while the ministry allows for 1,500 minutes. However, we are not certain if schools with two sessions can fit in the additional time slots," he said.

The subjects currently taught in Year One of Chinese primary schools are Chinese language (15 periods), Bahasa Malaysia (9), Mathematics (7), Moral Education (5), Physical Education (3), Music (2), and Art (2).

The schools now have two other free periods in their existing timetables, one allocated for a weekly school assembly and the other for a subject decided upon by the school principal.

With the introduction of English and Science for Year One pupils from next year, Chinese primary schools were initially supposed to substitute three periods of Chinese language classes for Science. As for English, two weekly classes were to be obtained from one existing free period and an additional period which will extend the existing timetable.

This arrangement now looks likely to change with four more periods required for the teaching of Maths and Science in English.

Schools to follow directive

However, these concerns are downplayed by several Chinese school principals.

When contacted, the headmaster of a single session Chinese primary school said he did not foresee any major implementation problems as the proposal would at most require only an extension of current school hours.

"I think the plan could involve a longer school day. Pupils would have to go home later and school buses would have to be asked to come later," said the headmaster who declined to be named.

The principal also said it was unlikely that pupils would be overburdened by the extra hours. "They would just have to go home a little later," he said.

Another principal of a double session school in Kuala Lumpur said the plan to teach Maths and Science in both English and Chinese is not expected to create complications in the pupils' learning process.

When asked, the principal who also declined to be identified, said he did not think the bilingual context would confuse them.

However, he refused to comment on how his school would be able to fit in several additional hours per week without changing present scheduling for other subjects since his school already ran on two sessions.

"We will follow the ministry's directive. I do not want to comment on this until we receive specific directive from the ministry," he said.

Adding to the uncertainty over the issue is the refusal of several policy-makers to expand on the proposal revealed by Ling yesterday.

No comments

Gerakan deputy president Kerk Choo Ting said he will reserve his comments until the proposal is discussed tomorrow during the Barisan Nasional supreme council meeting.

Met by reporters in Parliament today, Deputy Education Ministers Hon Choon Kim and Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin also declined to comment on the matter.

Yesterday, Abdul Aziz had criticised the proposal of the Chinese parties saying that several other complications would arise, including the time constraints faced by double session Chinese schools, and possible dissatisfaction by other parties who might also demand for additional hours for pupils in other vernacular schools.