NGOs urge Malaysian Govt to let Indian students take 12 subjects in SPM exam

Kuala Lumpur, Dec. 2 (ANI): Malaysian Indian Congress vice president Dr S. Subramaniam has disclosed that 20 NGOs have urged the Government to allow Malaysian Indian students take 12 subjects in the SPM next year.

He added that the NGOs agreed that Indians had to be united to raise this issue with the Government.

"They have realised that they cannot achieve much through emotionally-charged statements or divisiveness as this would only lead to bickering," The Star Online quoted reporters after a two-hour dialogue with the representatives.

"As the sole Indian member in the Cabinet, I will raise the community's concern during its meetings as well as with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the Education Minister," he added.

In June, Muhyiddin had said that students would be allowed to take a maximum of 10 subjects in the SPM from next year, with exception given to students in the joint science and religious stream.

Following that, Malaysian Indian community urged the ministry to reconsider the decision, as Indian students in the science stream would have to forgo either the Tamil language or Tamil literature paper as they already had nine compulsory subjects.

Dr Subramaniam, who is also the Human Resources Minister, said the party's education bureau would hold regular consultations with Indian NGOs and seek a meeting with Muhyiddin on the matter.

"Our problem is that we cannot outline the measures we have taken. We can only come out and make an announcement after we have reached an amicable solution. This gives the impression that we are not taking any proactive action, which is not true," he said. (ANI)