Teacher shortage barrier to mother tongue education, says Dr M

Dr Mahathir says it is the duty of the government to provide teachers. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — Putrajaya must fulfil its duty and provide teachers for Mandarin and Tamil lessons first before deciding if the two languages should be compulsory subjects in schools, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

“What needs to be compulsory is to have teachers,” the spry 84-year-old told reporters today, joining the national debate over the two vernacular languages.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, said on Sunday that the government was contemplating making the two mother tongues compulsory in national schools to ease interaction among Malaysia’s multi-racial students who are increasingly being segregated from an early age.

But Dr Mahathir appeared to view the proposal as putting the cart before the horse.

He noted that the previous policy where the two languages were introduced as elective subjects in national schools had failed to be carried out due to the lack of manpower.

“It is very difficult to provide teachers,” he said, adding that the government needed to resolve the staffing issue first before making any amendments to the education policy.

“It is the duty of the government to provide teachers,” Dr Mahathir stressed.

The elderly politician blamed the shortage of teachers in Mandarin, especially, on the disinterest among the ethnic Chinese community to enter the civil service.

“As you know, they prefer to go into business,” he quipped.

“Indians, I think, will join the government,” he said, but noted that the economic value of being adept in Tamil is “different” compared to Mandarin.

The majority of Malaysia’s ethnic Indian community are from the southern state of Tamil Nadu in the Asian sub-continent where Tamil is the common tongue.

Dr Mahathir pointed out the difference was because of China’s increasing weight in the world economy.