It appears Malaysians are still undecided on which is better: having a single steam schools-only education system, or maintaining a system with both single stream and vernacular schools.
In a special Merdeka survey of more than 1,000 Malaysians 25 years old and above conducted by research company Vase.ai, 51 per cent of respondents said they supported the idea that only single stream schools should exist, while 49 per cent said it was important for vernacular schools to also exist.
The survey also found that among those who supported a single stream school system which provides mother tongue education and spiritual education, most (66 per cent) believed it was a key to unity of all races.
The other two most-commonly cited beliefs were that a single stream-only system “is a better platform for children to mix with each other at an early age” (51%), and that “students will have better exposure of other cultures” (47%).
By Jessica Lin, Business Insider Malaysia, 30 August 2019