Parents protest scaling back of DLP at KL school

Parent Action Group for Education chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said parents are stakeholders but are not given due recognition by education minister Fadhlina Sidek. (Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim pic)

PETALING JAYA: Several parents have staged a silent protest outside SK Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, in response to the scaling back of the dual language programme (DLP) at the school for a group of students, sparking concern among the parents.

Chairman of the Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, who was present at the protest, told FMT that recent changes mandated by the education ministry had curtailed the reach of the programme.

“The DLP has been fully implemented at SK Bukit Damansara since 2016,” she said, adding that the recent changes had sidelined 30 Year One students from the DLP though others are able to participate.

The DLP is designed to offer students at selected schools the option to study subjects such as mathematics and science in English.

“Our children have not been granted (access to) the DLP. They have been sidelined,” one protester said.

“Parents and supporters of the DLP programme are here in front of the school, carrying out a silent and respectful demonstration,” another parent added.

Meanwhile, Azimah claimed that education minister Fadhlina Sidek, who was scheduled to launch an event at the school, did not attend.

Azimah also said that according to the Education Act 1996, parents are recognised stakeholders, but the minister and her deputy had never acknowledged them as such.

Azimah said the school’s headmaster had called in the police to ensure order, although the protest remained peaceful.

“Only two officers showed up. They just took a picture of us and left after that. They were not hostile,” she said.

Previously, Azimah said Malaysia’s decision to scrap English-medium schools in favour of promoting Bahasa Melayu in education had cost the country.

She said that in 2003, then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad introduced the policy of teaching and learning science and mathematics in English.

Nine years after its introduction, the policy was reversed by Muhyiddin Yassin, deputy prime minister at the time.

In 2016, Muhyiddin introduced the DLP, which allowed parents to choose the medium of instruction.

Since then, Fadhlina has resisted calls to revise the DLP’s guidelines, saying its implementation supports the ministry’s objective to uphold Bahasa Melayu while enhancing proficiency in English.