On Saturday, PAS’s women’s wing called for the government to reconsider its plans, saying national-type schoolteachers should instead be made to improve their command of the national language.
The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) accused Wanita PAS vice-chief Salamiah Nor of intentionally politicising the matter and told the party to stop “meddling in matters beyond their responsibility”.
Instead, PAGE chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said, PAS would do better to focus its efforts on arresting the poor academic performance and high dropout rate among school students in the states it governs.
“Many schools in Kelantan have failed to meet the national average grade for Bahasa Melayu, although their teachers and students speak the language daily,” she told FMT.
Noor Azimah said PAS should also address widespread drug use, high consumption of pornography and a spike in HIV infections occurring in the four northern states.
“Recently, 172 illegal drug bases were reported to have been uncovered along Sungai Golok, including in Tumpat, Pasir Mas, Tanah Merah and Jeli.
“There wouldn’t be any supply if there wasn’t demand from the people of that state,” she said.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the government had approved the expansion of Chinese and Tamil language training programmes at teacher training institutes, in tandem with efforts to improve the national language.
The initiative is aimed at ensuring an adequate supply of qualified teaching staff for Tamil and Chinese national-type schools.
The National Union of the Teaching Profession’s secretary-general, Fouzi Singon, also criticised Salamiah for her suggestion.
Fouzi said merely improving the proficiency of teachers in Bahasa Melayu is unlikely to have any impact on their students’ command of the language.
He said proficiency in any language was dependent on daily interactions, as well as the environment and culture in which its speakers find themselves.
“For example, the Chinese community in Kelantan is able to speak fluently in the Kelantanese dialect without need for any formal teaching,” he said.