The Chinese-based parties in Barisan Nasional should reject any switch in the teaching medium of Science and Mathematics in primary schools unless the Education Ministry can guarantee that students' performance in the two subjects will not decline.

DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang said today that there is no reason for the indecisiveness and procrastination by those parties in taking a stand on the proposal.

"The proposal is most inappropriate for Chinese primary schools in view of their consistently high standard in the two subjects compared to other medium streams, including the English schools before they were abolished in the mid-seventies," he said in a statement.

He also said Malaysians, the Chinese community in particular, found it impossible to understand why the Chinese-based parties could not reach a decision on the issue after three meetings recently.

Yesterday, leaders of MCA, Gerakan, Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) met to discuss the issue but failed to reach a consensus.

Sabah's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), another Chinese-based party in BN, did not attend the meeting.

No convincing case

Lim said Chinese Malaysians were also disappointed with these parties because they had failed to explain to the government that the Chinese community and education movements which have opposed the language switch were not 'chauvinists or extremists'.

He said the opposition to the language switch was because no one from the authorities has been able to present a "convincing case to the educational soundness" of the proposal.

These parties should have explained the real situation to the government when several Umno leaders warned to invoke the Internal Security Act against the education groups recently, he added.

Lim urged the ministers from MCA, Gerakan, and SUPP to raise at the next Cabinet meeting the unwarranted attacks on Dong Jiao Zong (collective name for United Chinese School Committee Association of Malaysia and United Chinese School Teachers Association of Malaysia).

"They have a duty not only to make a right, rational, and quick decision to reject the proposal but to also convince Umno leaders of their misconception and misjudgement about those who oppose the switch," he said.