KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has defended the future of Chinese and Indian primary schools, quashing a call by Umno Youth aspirant-chief Mukhriz Mahathir to merge them with Malay national schools.

Malaysia's vernacular schools, where most subjects are taught in Mandarin and Tamil, will exist as long as the Chinese and Indian communities need such a system, said Datuk Seri Najib.

It was his attempt to douse a fire started by Datuk Mukhriz, who brought up the sensitive issue of education for minorities. The son of former premier Mahathir Mohamad said an integrated primary education system was 'the best way' to achieve racial unity, saying the vernacular system fostered racial polarisation.

Mr Mukhriz had said: 'How can they talk about unity and question Malay rights, while they still insist on having a different school system for their race?

'If you want equal rights then you cannot have a different school system. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.'

But Mr Najib, anointed as the next prime minister, said it had been a long-standing government policy to allow Malaysians to choose the school system they want to enrol in.

There are about 1,200 Chinese primary schools and 500 Tamil primary schools in Malaysia. In a country where education has always been a touchy issue for the minorities, it is no surprise to see Mr Mukhriz's comments drawing sharp rebukes from non-Malays of all stripes.

The Chinese and Indians hold on to their rights in the field of education because it is seen as one of the key ways to preserve their identities.

Many parents are wary of having their children join national schools, after hearing stories that many such schools have been made more Islamic by overzealous headmasters, political analyst Khoo Kay Peng told The Straits Times. There is also a perception among the Chinese that their schools offer a superior education to that of national schools, he said.

Despite Mr Mukhriz's denials, critics accuse him of drumming up Malay sentiment to further his political ambition.

'He can contest the Umno Youth chief post but he should not point a dagger at the hearts of the other communities to win the post,' said Malaysian Indian Congress president Samy Vellu. He said Mr Mukhriz should be charged with sedition. Opposition veteran Lim Kit Siang said Mr Mukhriz has committed an 'offence of sedition'.

But Mr Mukhriz has found some support within Umno, with a division chief, Senator Syed Ali Alhabshee, saying: 'If a small country like Singapore can have such a system, why can't we? Why can't we accept the fact that a single education system can benefit all the communities?'

But others beg to differ. Mr Denison Jayasooria, a research fellow in ethnic studies, told The Straits Times: 'If you close the vernacular schools now, will polarisation disappear? It is an irresponsible statement, used as political ping pong.'

The suggestion of a national school system to foster greater unity is not wrong, but it is the intent that has to be questioned, Mr Khoo noted.

'Polarisation here starts from politics and the race-based political parties we have,' he said.

The mud-slinging over education is part of an ongoing, sometimes bitter, debate over race.

chengwee@sph.com.sg