PENANG: Some Tamil school parents have been tricked into supporting the dual language programme (DLP), the DAP’s P Ramasamy claimed today.
He said in a statement there were allegations that Tamil schools had been threatened that if they did not participate in the programme, government funds would be cut.
However, he did not say who had made these allegations.
He was commenting on a statement by Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan that the DLP was not being forced on students or schools and that parents had to give written consent for the programme to be introduced in schools.
Saying Kamalanathan had cited SJKT St Joseph, Kuala Lumpur, as one of the schools where all parents had given consent, Ramasamy added:
“I understand that 50 Tamil schools have been selected for the DLP — the teaching of STEM subjects ( Science, Mathematics, Information and Communications Technology, and Design and Technology) in English or Bahasa Malaysia.
“Kamalanathan mentions one Tamil school that gave consent, but what about the other 49 schools? Did they give the same consent? There is something really amiss about the DLP in Tamil schools.”
The Penang deputy chief minister II said: “It has been brought to my knowledge that some of the Tamil school parents were tricked into supporting the DLP.”
He said he was not against English language in schools but that he did not want to see a situation where vernacular schools were “diluted” by its introduction.