China
20:39, 22-Jul-2017
Malaysia's Chinese schools draw more non-Chinese students
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The number of non-Chinese sending their children to Chinese-language primary schools in Malaysia has soared from just 4 percent in 2011, to 18 percent last year.
According to CGTN’s correspondent Rian Maelzer, Malaysia has three different types of primary school: those teaching in Malay, those in Chinese and, for the Indian minority, those in Tamil. And each ethnic group has overwhelmingly preferred that their children be educated in their mother tongues.
Some people say having separate schools for different language groups has not been good for building understanding and national unity. Non-Chinese students may not all excel in reading and writing Chinese. But most do leave primary school able to speak the language well.
Nadia Helwani Halim, a local mother, said, “For me, Chinese are very hard working, so I want him to learn to adapt to Chinese culture, to be a hard-working person, and also the other reason is to learn another language.”