Pakatan MPs as well as the Tamil Foundation expressed incredulity over Education Minister II Idris Jusoh\u2019s remarks to critics of the Education Blueprint.<\/p>\n
PAS research centre executive director Dzulkefly Ahmad slammed Idris\u2019 statement as ridiculous and arrogant and most regrettable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last person I would expect to be saying such knee-jerk abrasive response would be the education minister who must exude wisdom, composure and tenacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope the proponents of the education blueprint will stop throwing tantrums as this is not the first time but it better be the last. Otherwise, they are at liberty to graciously resign en masse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Idris said that the ministry will carry on with its National Education Blueprint 2013-2015 plan and hinted that those who are not satisfied with it can send their children overseas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t please everyone, we have our own objectives and we will continue to implement it. We sat down with thousands of experts before we came up with the blueprint,\u201d he had said.<\/p>\n
Dzulkefly stressed that since the education blueprint is the most critical document about human capital, debate and consultation must be allowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter all, we are supposedly living in an era of new politics where contestation of ideas is not by partisan political parties alone but also by civil groups who are bi-partisan and full of ideas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The former Kuala Selangor MP added that BN leaders must unlearn old habits and take part in constructive engagement before they become obsolete and perceived as an intolerant and inflexible lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop asking people to leave the country and in this regard, sending their children abroad. There\u2019s enough brain drain already,\u201d said Dzulkefly.<\/p>\n
\u2018There must be inclusiveness\u2019<\/p>\n
Tamil Foundation president S Pasupathi on the other hand said that Idris made an irresponsible statement, adding: \u201cWe did not expect such a statement coming from the education minister,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He stressed that education is the government\u2019s obligation while multilingualism is an asset to nation building.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere must be inclusiveness whereby all views should be taken into consideration, and this includes the views of all citizens and stakeholders in the education system.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing out with the blueprint does not mean you have to stick to it. The best solution in strengthening the use of Bahasa Malaysia is through remove classes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur students who study in Russia, for example, can pick up the Russian language within one year, so the same can be done through remove classes with Bahasa Malaysia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
PKR vice-president Chua Jui Meng, meanwhile, said that Idris\u2019 statement stems from the same arrogance that had alienated many people in the last general election.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis statement is in the same stream of those who say if you do not like a particular policy, you can go back to China or India,\u201d he said, adding that Idris was using the same politics associated with racism.<\/p>\n
The Johor PKR chairman said that all right thinking Malaysians will reject such politics, the same kind of politics which has made Barisan Nasional (BN) a \u201cminority\u201d government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this continues then BN, especially Umno, is going to collapse in the next general election,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Chua stressed that the education ministry should instead be sensible because they are dealing with young people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should create citizens who can compete internationally. If the education system continues to be seen as a mediocre then more people will resort to private institutions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that this would not be good for the younger generation, especially those from the lower income group as they still depend on the public education system.<\/p>\n
He also said that the education blueprint is merely Umno\u2019s stamp on each minister\u2019s aspirations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith every education minister trying to reinvent the wheel, it is only the people who suffer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Typical of Umno\u2019s mindset<\/p>\n
Seremban MP Anthony Loke also echoed Chua\u2019s sentiments, saying that the statement made by Idris was \u201ctypical, arrogant and ridiculous\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat he said is the same as those who say that those who do not agree with the government\u2019s policy can migrate to other countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis reflects the state of competency of our ministers. When people do not agree with them, they simply ask people to migrate,\u201d said the DAP socialist youth head.<\/p>\n
The Chennah state assemblyman added that Idris\u2019 statement is typical of Umno\u2019s mindset who think they know best.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, the era of government knows best is over. My advise is this, if you cannot accept criticism, just retire from politics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok also said she was shocked by Idris\u2019 statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can a minister adopt such an attitude and make such ridiculous remarks? This is totally unacceptable. Such remarks are unbecoming of a minister with an important portfolio.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody expects any or all government policies to be able to please everyone, but no minister must say ridiculous remarks like what he did,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She added that the teaching of Maths and Science in English policy did not please everyone, but could Dr Mahathir Mohamad tell those people who were unhappy to send their children to study abroad?<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, the policy reversal announced by Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin did not please everyone, so can the government tell people, including Mahathir to send his grandchildren to study abroad if they opposed the government\u2019s decision?\u201d she asked. – FMT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakatan MPs as well as the Tamil Foundation expressed incredulity over Education Minister II Idris Jusoh\u2019s remarks to critics of the Education Blueprint. PAS research centre executive director Dzulkefly Ahmad slammed Idris\u2019 statement as ridiculous and arrogant and most regrettable. \u201cThe last person I would expect to be saying such knee-jerk abrasive response would be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"better_featured_image":{"id":14849,"alt_text":"","caption":"","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":600,"height":404,"file":"2013\/09\/idris-jusoh-bilik-darjah.jpg","filesize":102233,"sizes":{},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1","keywords":[]}},"post":14848,"source_url":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/idris-jusoh-bilik-darjah.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14848"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}