A group of parent-teacher association (PTA) heads and headmasters from several states have labelled the MIC-organised symposium today on the teaching of Science and Maths in English as a sham because "it was strategically planned".

Many complained that the 45 speakers, believed to have been pre-selected by the organisers, were continuously praising MIC president S Samy Vellu rather than addressing the issue, while a few others claimed they were denied the opportunity to speak despite coming well-prepared.

Of that number, 39 agreed with the implementation of the controversial policy which has drawn criticism from various education groups and concerned quarters across the major ethnic groups.

PTA chairperson from a Tamil school in Taman Melawati, M Manogar, questioned the rationale of the gathering, including the reasons for having headmasters, who were themselves civil servants bound by the General Orders.

"I feel cheated when he (Samy Vellu) reminded everyone this morning that the Cabinet had approved the implementation of the policy and it will proceed as planned.

"If the government had decided to implement the policy, why bother holding this today? It's more for the sake of formality than out of real concern for the community."

Only 30 people spoke

Manogar said the symposium was supposed to gather feedback from about 400 headmasters and more than 200 PTA heads but they only heard the views from about 30 people who spoke.

"Even that was pre-selected by the organisers. Moreover, these views do not represent the Indian Malaysian community's views. We urge the government to study the matter further before implementing it."

M Muniandy, PTA chairperson of Henrietta Tamil school in Kedah, claimed that 27 PTAs out of 57 Tamil schools in the state were not aware of today's symposium.

"We ourselves had to find out what was happening as the headmasters did not inform us. In fact, the letter sent to me by the MIC came with a scribbled note by the headmaster saying that I can attend if I'm interested, otherwise I don't have to.

"Furthermore, the letter was written in Bahasa instead of Tamil, but the MIC claims it is serious about protecting the language and improving the standard of education in Tamil schools."

Lawyer SP Pathi, who has been vocal against the new policy, said none of the children of MIC's top brass had been sent to a Tamil school, unlike some MCA leaders who had sent their offsprings to Chinese schools.

Why change now?

His main concern over the language switch in two subjects is the resulting adverse effects, especially in Science and Maths.

"What's wrong with the present system? It had worked fine all these years and served the interests of all the ethnic groups. So, why change now?

"The introduction of a new language is going to seriously affect the early development of our children, which is where mother tongue becomes important," he said when met outside the hall after the symposium.

Pathi also dismissed allegations by MIC and its supporters that he, the group parents and other concerned citizens were being emotional over the issue.

"Do you know that the middle class' cultural entertainment is actually at the expense of the poor Malaysian Indians? Their children are the ones attending Tamil schools and keeping the language and culture intact."

Citing the most recent UPSR examination average scores, he said Tamil pupils achieved far better results than national schools in Science and Maths which are taught in Tamil, but fared poorly in Bahasa Melayu.

Change character

A Malaysian Tamil Education Research and Development Foundation spokesperson said the language switch will definitely change the character of Tamil schools, contrary to the assurances given by the government and Samy Vellu.

He added that the MIC, as a political organisation, has its own agenda but the Cabinet should be the one to represent the community.

Earlier, this group was caught in a commotion with the police for distributing flyers in Tamil on the negative aspects of the new policy and the need to maintain Tamil schools as they were, including the teaching of Science and Maths in the mother tongue.

Police seized all the flyers and other printed material which were being distributed to participants before ordering the group of about 50 parents and concerned professionals to disperse, despite being told that the foyer of the PWTC was a public place.