The Chinese education movement today urged the government to build Chinese schools in Selangor's USJ housing estate instead of proceeding with the construction of a Vision School.

Shum Chin Khee, a researcher for the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia, or Dong Zong, told malaysiakini that USJ needs at least 14 Chinese primary schools.

Instead, not a single Chinese school has been built in the area, which has a population of 160,000, of whom 100,000 are Chinese.

According to him, there are 22 plots of land in USJ allocated for schools.

The housing estate currently has 12 schools - six national primary schools, five national secondary schools and one Islamic secondary school.

National schools, unlike Chinese and Tamil schools, use Bahasa Malaysia as their medium of instruction.

Meanwhile, a plot of land has been reserved for a Tamil school, which is currently sharing its campus with another national school, and a Vision School is currently being built.

"There are another five plots of land with approximately 36 acres. This shows that the question of not enough land for Chinese schools is not an issue," he said.

'Hidden agenda'

Despite that Chinese schools are badly needed in the area, Shum said a Vision School is being built in USJ 15.

The construction of the school, which began in March, is expected to be completed in January next year.

"The speed in the construction of the Vision School - 10 months - showed the 'hidden agenda' of the authority," Shum lamented.

The Chinese education movement has virulently protested the government's Vision School programme to bring Chinese, Tamil and national schools under one roof.

The concept has been criticised because many in the Chinese community fear the erosion of the independence and identity of Chinese schools.

USJ has approximately 10,000 Chinese students, most of whom are forced to take long trips of between one and two hours to attend schools in other areas such as Puchong, Sungai Way and Subang New Village.

The nearest is SJK (C) Lick Hung in Subang Jaya, with 3,500 students, which can no longer accommodate more students.

Another Chinese school, SJK (C) Chee Wen, which is without a home, is presently sharing its campus with another national school, and has 149 students.

Shum said SJK (C) Chee Wen, which has moved from Batang Berjuntai since 1999, has not been able to see the construction of its own school.

"We are worried that Chee Wen's construction might not take place, or is purposely being delayed, to allow the Vision School to take its students," he said.

No choice

He added that most of the students of USJ have to wake up at 5am, and fight traffic jams to go to their schools. According to Shum, many students face fatigue when they arrive at their schools and are in no condition to study.

He said as a result, many parents had no choice but to send their children to the national schools.

Shum alluded to the possibility that the authorities are seeking to build the Vision School in high density areas to force parents to send their children to the school.

The information collected by Dong Zong showed that nine Vision Schools are being proposed throughout the country in the coming years.

He accused the government of pursuing a policy of not allocating land to Chinese schools.

"The government's figures proved our allegation," he stressed.

In the Sixth Malaysia Plan (1991-1995), there were an addition of 205 national schools, while Chinese schools decreased by four, and Tamil schools by 12.

Under the Seventh Malaysia Plan (1996-2000), there were an increase of 259 national schools, while no Chinese school was built and Tamil schools were slashed by four.

Last year, Dong Zong chairman Quek Suan Hiang led the Chinese education movement on nationwide roadshows to explain the organisation's objection to Vision Schools.

"Our worries are based on the various education acts since Independence. The government's guidelines on the Vision School are not law, and history shows that the long-term policy of the government is to have a single medium of instruction in all schools," he added.