Disappointed with the new national education blueprint, a veteran Chinese educationalist has urged BN government to learn a lesson from the separatist conflicts in Southern Thailand.

LLG Cultural Development Centre vice-chairperson Goh Kean Seng said it appears that the government is attempting to suppress mother tongue education as revealed by the recommendations contained in the blueprint.

NONE Citing an example, Goh ( with mike in photo ) said the recommendation to abolish remove classes from secondary schools seems to be aimed at discouraging the learning of the mother tongue language.

"The fact is, there is always diversities of languages, cultures and values in any multiracial environment. The races should respect and tolerate each other but not wipe out one another as it is against humanity," he said.

He added that the separatist conflicts in Southern Thailand could be a lesson for the Malaysian government.

"What BN government did to the non-Malay races, was what Thailand government did to the Malays in Southern Thailand,

"Some of the Malays in Southern Thailand can't even speak Malay now, why is it so?" he asked.

 Blueprint delivers disappointment

He was speaking at a press conference together with five Chinese NGOs disappointed with the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2012-2015.

NONE They were LLG Cultural Development Centre, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Centre for Malaysian Chinese Studies, United Chinese School Alumni Association of Malaysia, and the Alumni Association of China Universities.

In a joint statement, they listed out seven points in response to the education blueprint:

1. Accept the fact that Malaysia is a multiracial and multi-cultural country and respect the diversities of different races;

2. There must be objectivity and practicality in language learning;

3. Retain and improve the remove classes for secondary schools;

4. Explain the details of the revamp of history as a subject;

5. Make sure all level of education departments comprise multiracial staff and called for democratization of education;

6. Publish all the study reports and figures of the education blueprint; and,

7. Form a committee to monitor and ensure that policies are implemented fairly and reasonably.