MP questions survival of SJKC amid declining Chinese birth rate

With the declining birth rate of the Chinese Malaysian community, Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin questioned the survival of Chinese vernacular schools.

He noted that these schools already lack students in urban and rural areas.

Assuming all 40,000 Chinese babies born in 2022 were to enrol in one of the 1,200 Chinese schools for their Year One education in 2027, that would indicate an average of 33 new students in each school, he posted on Facebook.

“An average of 33 new students means only one class of standard one per SJKC,” he said.

Yesterday, Sim (above) expressed hope that the auspicious Year of the Dragon might see an increase in the Chinese birth rate as it has been declining for the past 25 years.

Chinese births make up less than 10 percent of total live births and Chinese women have a total fertility rate of 0.8 while Malay women’s is at 2.1, he said.

“This declining trend is not unique to Malaysia as we are consistent with developed countries and Southeast Asia, so why is the Chinese birth rate so low?” he said.

However, today Sim pointed out that not all Chinese children would be enrolled in vernacular Chinese schools, as some would attend private or national schools instead.

“No students, no school. Will SJKC survive?” he asked.

Population

According to the National Census 2020, the percentage of bumiputera population increased to 69.4 percent while the Chinese and Indian ethnicities made up less than 30 percent.

The Chinese population stood at 23.2 percent, the Indians at 6.7 percent and others were 0.7 percent. The 2020 census showed a continued trend of declining percentages for the Chinese community.

Local daily mStar reported in 2011 that the 2010 census showed the bumiputera made up 67.4 percent of the 28.3 million population then, followed by Chinese at 24.6 percent and Indians at 7.3 percent, while people of other unspecified ethnicities remained at 0.7 percent.

The 2020 census also showed that there are 2.6 million non-Malaysians in the country, which makes up 8.3 percent of the population.

Former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said statistics also revealed that the percentage of the country’s young population had decreased to 24 percent in 2020, compared to 27.6 percent in 2010.

He said there were 3.4 million senior citizens aged 60 and above, or 10.5 percent, compared to only 2.2 million in 2010 (eight percent of the population then).

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