Jiao Zong (United Chinese School Teachers’ Association), Hua Zong (Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia) and the National Union of Heads of Schools said Muhyiddin's claim that the three groups have accepted a proposal to raise the language lessons from 180 minutes a week to 240 minutes is untrue.
"We are shocked and deeply regret the deputy prime minister's statement, this is not true at all,” they said in a joint statement this afternoon.
Instead, their proposal has always been for 210 minutes a week.
This, they said, was clearly conveyed in a meeting with Muhyiddin last Tuesday, in which Jiao Zong also submitted a memorandum signed by 732 Chinese primary schools.
"It was jointly signed by 1,604 boards of directors, parents and teachers associations and alumni associations from 732 schools, asking the ministry to respect their wishes."
Detailing the meeting, they said Muhyiddin had promised to look into their proposal after the minister’s proposal had been rejected by them.
"We never agreed to the minister’s proposal. In fact, we had stated clearly in a press conference afterward that both parties failed to reach a consensus over the teaching hours of Bahasa Melayu."
They added that they will continue to fight for their cause and follow up on the issue.
Presently, Chinese primary schools are required to teach 180 minutes of Bahasa Melayu lessons for Year Four to Year Six classes.
The preliminary report of the National Education Blueprint had proposed to raise it to 270 minutes, prompting objections from the Chinese education groups and MCA.
However, the final report revealed today reduces the proposed 270 minutes to 240.
In a press conference this afternoon, MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong (centre in photo) said the blueprint is "almost perfect" except for the teaching hours of Bahasa Melayu.
He said the MCA's stand is as same as the Chinese education groups, which is 210 minutes.
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