At the same time, among Chinese immigrants in Malaya, most of them are illiterate and their economic strength is weak. There are no new schools except a few private schools. Although new schools mushroomed in Malaya in the early 20th century,
However, it had little influence on British colonial rule, which made the early British colonial government adopt a laissez-faire policy towards the educational development of Chinese, or even ignored it. It was not until the1965-438+1920s that the political movement and nationalist enthusiasm of China society spread all over China education schools (Chinese schools), and the British colonial government promulgated the school registration law and implemented a partial subsidy system, thus beginning to intervene in the development of education in China.
After the end of World War II, the British colonial government formulated a new education policy 1946 according to the principle of the Malayan Federation Plan, namely:
(1) Primary schools implement compulsory education with mother tongue as the teaching language, but English is a compulsory course in all schools;
(2) There are two types of middle schools. One is to teach mother tongue in English, and the other is to teach mother tongue in English.
This policy not only emphasizes the necessity of English education, but also recognizes the importance of mother tongue education and gives it legal status. It also put Chinese education on an equal footing with other national language education, which indirectly promoted the recovery and development of Chinese education in Malaya after the war.
1948 After the constitution of Malaya was implemented, the British re-recognized the special status of Malays. Therefore, China's education policy has also changed, especially after the declaration of a state of emergency, the British colonial government's management of schools in China has become easier.
1949, Malaya established the Central Education Advisory Committee, which is responsible for the formulation and implementation of education policies. When the Committee submitted its education report the following year, it suggested that the national education system must be embodied by the primary education system in which English is the main language, Malay is also allowed as the teaching language of primary education, and English is used as the teaching language of secondary education.
However, this proposal was strongly opposed by Malay society, which regarded it as an insult to Malay, and Datuk Weng Jiahua was a strongly protesting Malay leader. Therefore, when this proposal was overturned, it was replaced by two different reports.
The first report was submitted by the Malay Education Review Committee at the beginning of 195 1. As the committee is chaired by L. J. Barnes, director of social studies at Oxford University in the UK, it is also called the Barnes Report, suggesting that ethnic schools should replace other ethnic language schools, that is, official languages (Malay and English) should be used instead of dialect schools (Chinese and English).
1952, 1 1 year1October, the legislative assembly passed the education law of that year (hereinafter referred to as "1952 education law"), stipulating that English and Malay are the main teaching languages, and Chinese and Tamil are listed as the third languages according to ethnic schools, that is, After the adoption of this education law, it immediately aroused strong repercussions and protests in China society, but the British colonial government turned a deaf ear to these protests. In the same year, the British colonial government also stipulated that all China schools wishing to implement the new wage system must obtain the approval of the Education Bureau before deciding on hiring teachers and using textbooks. Therefore, the above situation invisibly weakens the power of the board of directors of Chinese schools and further consolidates the power of the government to control Chinese schools.
Under the background that Chinese education is facing a catastrophe, the two most powerful organizations in safeguarding Chinese national education, namely, the Malayan (Western) Asian Chinese School Teachers' Federation (hereinafter referred to as the General Staff) and the Malayan (Western) Asian Chinese School Board Federation (hereinafter referred to as the General Board), were established in 195 1 and199 respectively.
Chen's most practical action is to promote the establishment of the Central Committee for Chinese Education in Malaysia and safeguard the development of Chinese education. In fact, Chen insists that Chinese as a mother tongue education must be rooted in Malaya, because "through the mother tongue, a baby can learn the names he sees, feels, tastes and hears, know the relationship between relatives and distinguish between good and evil. Therefore, in all education, the most important thing is to train children to use their mother tongue freely. " On the other hand, it is worth noting that most of the grassroots leaders of MCA at that time were educated by Chinese, and they were also active in the organization of Chinese school boards as the objects of Chinese associations. Therefore, the participation of MCA in defending the Chinese education movement at that time was obvious to all.
Nevertheless, in the early days of the establishment of the Central Chinese Education Committee of MCA, there were still some differences between MCA and Chinese community on language education. But in the general direction, it is still in the same strain, such as resolutely opposing the "1952 education law"; Against 1954 67 White Paper on Education; And supported the establishment of Nanyang University.
Malacca talks
The Chinese Education Committee of MCA Central Committee has not made remarkable achievements in defending Chinese education at this stage. It was not until the general election in Malaya in 1955 that the Chinese education movement appeared a glimmer of light, because on June+10/2 of that year, under the arrangement of Tan Cheng Lock, Chinese educators held an unprecedented meeting with Umno leaders in Malacca for the first time. During the talks, the two sides reached a compromise plan, that is, the leaders of the General Education Commission promised not to mention that Chinese must be the official language in the election campaign from October to July that year, while the League promised to announce in its election manifesto that it would review the "1952 Education Law" and ensure that its policies would not destroy any ethnic language, school or culture after winning, while allowing Chinese schools to own it.
After the Malacca talks, it not only strengthened the internal ties of the education movement in China, but also started the close relationship between the education circles and the alliance in China. For example, during the drafting of the Lhasa report, the educational circles in China maintained close contact with the League. Therefore, on the eve of the publication of the report, Minister of Education Abdul Razak personally met with Pope Dong and representatives of Pan Maying, Witch and Indian School Teachers Association. During the meeting, Abdullah Tarmugl Sa reported to the delegates the summary of the report of the 1956 Education Committee (also known as the Lhasa Report) drafted by 15 people, but Mr. Dong Jiao argued with Abdullah Tarmugl Sa that the ultimate goal of the education policy mentioned in paragraph 12 of the report would be to use the national language (Malay) as the main teaching language.
When the 1957 Education Law was passed, its contents were contrary to the recommendations of the Lhasa report. Although the Central Committee of Chinese Education in MCA has repeatedly tried to negotiate with the Minister of Education to discuss the conditions for restructuring and public examinations, they all ended in failure. When all the negotiations were blocked, not only the Chinese education movement fell into the lowest valley, but also MCA, which was sandwiched between the government and the Chinese society, fell into a dilemma.
There should be no doubt about the attitude of maintaining China culture and China education. The answer to this point can also be found in Chen's identification with China people, because he feels that being a China person is something to be proud of under any circumstances; At the same time, he insists that if Malaya can gain independence, Chinese should become "out-and-out China people" in knowledge, religion, culture or race. In addition, Chen reiterated on many occasions that MCA's mission includes defending Chinese culture and Chinese education, and even pointed out that MCA can fight for Chinese education to the end, because Chen firmly believes that "Chinese are not Chinese if they don't understand Chinese culture; If they don't understand the customs and traditions of China, they can't be from China. " From this perspective, "if they are not from China, they can't be Malays, Britons or Indians. They can be said to be hooligans. " Some people even think that if education in China is eliminated, young people in China will become nondescript people.
In addition, Tan Cheng Lock even stressed that if there is a president in MCA who opposes Chinese education in the future, Chinese people can remove (abandon) the president at any time, because the purpose of MCA is not only to preserve Chinese culture, but even to carry it forward and make it gradually prosperous ",and ensured that MCA's policies must safeguard Chinese culture. These remarks undoubtedly reiterated Chen's view that he is not a China person unless he supports Chinese education, which shows his persistence and support for Chinese culture and Chinese education. Of course, it also provides a national mission and direction worthy of deep thinking and persistence for the future leaders of MCA.