In a statement, the Bukit Bendera MP said some of the reasons include poor infrastructure, a lack of teachers, and inadequate resources at national schools.

She said these issues should be addressed to improve the quality of education, noting that even Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki enrols his children in vernacular schools.

“So before Umno Youth talks about fostering unity and assimilation, they should first understand why vernacular schools have become the choice for some parents who want quality education for their children,” she said.

Yesterday, Utusan Malaysia reported Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh as saying that the wing would propose a single schooling system to the government to foster harmony among the races.

Akmal said Malaysians had been segregated from a young age because of vernacular schools, and that the wing would hold a nationwide debate session on the re-establishment of single-stream schools.

Syerleena said the diverse nature of Malaysia’s education system which allowed parents different options was “part of reality which must be accepted”.

“It could also help foster the diversity that has been the backbone of the Malaysian identity for decades.”