The disparity in quality between Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools can lead to widening socio-economic gaps but the vernacular school system is not to blame for this, argued PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli.

Instead, he said the problem was with the poor quality of the national schooling system, which has driven parents, including the non-Chinese, to send their children to Chinese vernacular schools where education standards are perceived as higher.

Rafizi stressed that the enrolments in Chinese vernacular schools have less to do with race and more to do with their quality.

NONE "This is what has pushed our education system into this growing disparity (in quality) because there is not enough critical mass for Tamil schools.

Rafizi (right ) said at a press conference today the lack of enrolment Tamil schools meant they cannot attract investments and money the way that Chinese schools, which have the numbers in terms of students, could.

He said this when asked to comment on yesterday's statement by Rita Izhak, an independent expert on minority issues at the UN Human Rights Council.

Rita was quoted by the online news portal FreeMalaysiaToday as saying that higher standards of Chinese schools, compared with Tamil schools, could lead to socio-economic gaps in the future.

Observing that the ethnic composition at national schools was more diverse and the quality of education better when he was schooling in the 1980s, Rafizi said efforts should be made to improve the standards of these schools to their former glory.

“When that happens, there will be a balance between enrolment in national schools and vernacular schools so that while we are respecting the rights of minorities to have their own schools, it does not pose a negative impact on society as a whole.

“This is because the majority of society would still obtain an education that they are satisfied with at government schools, unlike now,” Rafizi said.