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Single Stream Schools highly regarded by Sultan of Johor

Published by SchoolAdvisor | Sep 29, 2016
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The Sultan of Johor says schools are the foundation of unity and it will bring about significant changes in developing the nation's education.

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The Johor sultanate, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, spoke about having single-stream schools. He stated that the schools should be the mediums for unity and not factors of division for the state and more importantly for the nation as a whole.

Issues pertaining to racial unity might be attributed to the current situation where schools are segregated based on race, according to Sultan Ibrahim. He says the values of unity must be cultivated from a young age to produce future generation that is united and ready for the future.

The Sultan compares schools in Malaysia to schools in Singapore, whereby in Singapore, they already have established a single-stream school system and have proven successful at fostering unity. He has also called for English to be the medium of instruction in schools.

The sultan has in the past expressed his disappointment and concern over the poor level of English among Malay students, and the low proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia of Chinese and Indian students in national schools.

The sultan's statement puts him at a politically sensitive position with Putrajaya, where authorities insist on having multi-stream school system but have called for stronger racial and cultural integration in national schools. The central government upholds teaching Bahasa Malaysia as the main medium of instruction in national schools, as well as strengthening the English language among pupils regardless of racial background. The government believes that this is the way to improve the situation in national schools without compromising the existing system.

However, many parents seem to be unhappy with the current state of education in national schools and are actively seeking alternatives. Chinese medium schools and private and international schools are popular among parents nowadays. These alternative choices cater to the parents' who are concerned over the possibility that their children might not be able to grasp the English language and speak it well.