She said this was the highest number of new recruits appointed by the ministry in a year.

“The intake will continue for this year and the years to come, to fill the vacancies in public schools,” she said in replying to points raised about her ministry during the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address in the Dewan Negara today.

Fadhlina reiterated that the ministry did not plan to review the policy regarding the existence of vernacular schools and to create a single-stream education system.

She said the existing education policy would be continued, with attention given to closing the gap between various schools nationwide to ensure national unity could be achieved through education.

“As such, we do not view any type of school as a hindrance towards promoting unity. In fact, it is the best space for understanding and strengthening the agenda of unity among students.

“I am very optimistic that, going forward, the future generation will show true appreciation for unity through the approaches we take now,” she said.

Meanwhile, higher education minister Zambry Abd Kadir said his ministry was striving to create a guideline for English language proficiency based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which is used internationally.

“This guideline will be used by language teachers and lecturers in public universities to develop English assessment test papers appropriate to students’ proficiency levels and based on international standards,” he said.