The Education Ministry has been criticised for not inviting Tamil-language schools to take part in the Vision School dialogues.

"It is very bad of the Education Minister not to invite any education groups or representatives from the Tamil community to take part in the dialogues," C Manyam, the editor of Semparthi , a Tamil monthly magazine, told malaysiakini today.

The groups currently taking part in the Vision School dialogues with the Education Ministry are the MCA, Gerakan, SUPP and the Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia (FCAM).

Dong Jiao Zong rejected the concept of the Vision School after two dialogues, held on Sept 22 and Oct 19.

Manyam stressed that quite a few groups are working on the betterment of Tamil schools and as such the Education Ministry should have recognised them and requested them to join in the Vision School dialogues.

"They (the Education Ministry) had never called anyone (from Tamil groups) for discussion. Samy Vellu's is just a one-man decision," he said, explaining that the consent of MIC president S Samy Vellu to the Vision School project does not represent the opinion of all Tamil people.

He pointed out that almost 90 per cent of Tamil school headmasters are MIC members and would tend to follow an order made by Samy Vellu.

Many schools in danger

"The headmasters have never studied the impact of the Vision School project," said Manyam, adding the Tamil community had no knowledge on the Vision School concept, which the government said is aimed at integration of the various ethnic groups from a young age.

He said Tamil political leaders seemed unconcerned about the concept and had not evaluated its impact on Tamil education in the country.

Presently, Malaysia has 525 Tamil primary schools but about 200 of them are in danger of closing down as the plantation estates they are located on may be sold, Manyam revealed.

A Tamil educationist S P Pathi, contacted by malaysiakini, claims the Tamil community is worried that the identity of Tamil schools will be lost under the Vision School.

"Pluralism is an asset for Malaysia. We can be Malaysian and at the same time maintain our mother tongue language," he said.

He said that the people who sent their children to Tamil schools mostly come from the disadvantaged socio-economic group and as such did not have any avenue to express their opinion on the Vision School concept.

Tamil schools government aided

"They are unable to organise themselves to voice their opinion," he said, adding that Tamil educationists had realized their problem and were planning to form more Tamil education groups.

He also refuted the statement of Education Minister Musa Mohamad who had commented that the Tamil schools are not as properly managed as Chinese schools.

"The poor Tamil community can't raise money like the Chinese community," he said, pointing out that 75 per cent of Tamil schools are partly aided by the government.

"Education should be totally free to Tamil children," he said.

He added that the Tamil schools also faced poor teaching facilities and a shortage of teachers.

More than 30 Tamil educationists had a dialogue with Dong Jiao Zong in Kuala Lumpur on Fridaay regarding the Vision School project.

DJZ chairman Quek Suan Hiang has led the Chinese education movement on roadshows nationwide to explain DJZ's objections as the issue does not stand alone and has to be analysed from a historical perspective.

"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. ([#1]Vision school concept still blurry[/#], Nov 13)

Related story:

Siswa tiga IPT bantah Sekolah Wawasan, Nov 17