The Federation of Peninsular Malay Students (GPMS), the Islamic Education Development Council (Mappim) and the Confederation of Malaysian Writers Association (Gapena) said they had instructed their lawyers to file the appeal before the Court of Appeal.
“We hope this appeal can clarify the constitutional position (of vernacular schools) and that our case would not be used as a racial issue by irresponsible parties,” they said.
Last month, High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali ruled that the use of Tamil and Mandarin in vernacular schools was constitutional.
“These schools are not public entities as defined in the Federal Constitution to use Malay as the medium of instruction,” he said in dismissing the suit against the existence of vernacular schools.
Nazlan added that one must also look at pre- and post-Merdeka laws and the Constitution, which provide safeguards for the use of these languages and for the schools to exist.
In the lawsuit, GPMS, Mappim and Gapena sought a declaration that Sections 2, 17 and 28 of the Education Act 1996, and the extent to which they provided for the establishment of vernacular schools using Tamil and Mandarin as the main languages, were inconsistent with Article 152(1) of the Constitution and are considered null and void.
Nazlan added that there was no basis to contend that vernacular schools infringed Articles 5, 8, 10, 11 and 12 of the Constitution. He said the use of these languages as mediums of instruction was constitutional and protected under exceptions in Articles 152 (1) (a) and (b) of the Constitution.
“Enrolment in a vernacular school is, after all, a matter of choice. It is difficult to see in what fashion the establishment and existence of these schools would infringe the rights of any person under the Constitution,” he said.
The government was named as a defendant in the suit. However, the court later allowed political parties and other groups to be included as co-defendants.
They included MIC, MCA, Gerakan and Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia; Chinese educationist groups Dong Zong and Jiao Zong, the Malaysian Chinese Language Council and SMJK Chong Hwa; and Persatuan Thamizhar Malaysia, Persatuan Tamilar Thirunal (Perak), Persatuan Gabungan Kebajikan Guru-Guru Bersara Sekolah Tamil, Persatuan Malaysia Tamil Neri Kalagam and Gabungan Persatuan Bekas Pelajar Sekolah Tamil Malaysia.