KUALA LUMPUR: THE government’s plan to house national and vernacular schools within a single campus to promote greater racial integration among students is a small but significant step towards strengthening unity.
Academicians, however, believe racial unity can be achieved only with tweaks to schools’ curricular activities.
National Academic Laureate Award recipient Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom said the plan was in line with one of the main goals of the education system, which was to foster interracial harmony, integration and unity.
The proposal, he said, could serve as the “missing link” to getting students from different types of schools to interact and develop greater understanding of each other.
“Nurturing good and noble values should start from the school level and the proposal brokered by the prime minister on the setting up of a campus comprising many types of schools should be considered seriously.
“Once the campus has been established, the Education Ministry and the schools should organise more curricular activities to get students to interact with peers from other schools.
“This will not only promote unity, but also greater knowledge-sharing, which would help mould students’ values until they reach adulthood.”
Last week, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government was considering a plan to house national and vernacular schools in a single campus to encourage students of various races to interact through common activities.
He said the campus would hold morning assemblies with all students and have unified sports teams.
Echoing Alimuddin, academician Dr Chong Kee Chok said the plan would only meet its purpose by having a curriculum with common traditions and values.
“Achieving integration is about more than bringing (different) schools together. It is about a curriculum that emphasises common traditions and values.”
He said the current system of ethnic markers was detrimental to national integration and unity.
Educationist Professor Datuk Dr Noraini Idris said the plan to house different types of schools under one campus should have been implemented a long time ago at the primary school level.
Noraini, who is in Singapore to study the implementation of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics curriculum, said the plan could foster the spirit of cooperation among students from different races.
“Our country has people of different racial and religious backgrounds.
“For us to better understand each other, the plan must start at the primary school level.
“There will be doubts and disgruntled voices at the initial stage of implementation, but everyone will ultimately understand if they look at the bigger picture, which is national unity.”
