PUTRAJAYA: Vernacular schools are not protected by the Federal Constitution, the Court of Appeal heard today.
Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdullah submitted that the Kuala Lumpur High Court has erred in dismissing a suit by several organisations seeking a declaration that the existence of vernacular school contravened the Federal Constitution.
Haniff said vernacular schools existed for the purpose of imparting knowledge and therefore were legally constrained from using languages such as Mandarin and Tamil, as stated in Article 152(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution.
He made the submissions, which lasted three hours, before a three-member panel consisting of Datuk Supang Lian, Datuk Gunalan Muniandy and Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan today.
He also said that High Court judge Datuk Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who has since been elevated to the Court of Appeal, was wrong to base his findings on the schools' existence and long history.
"Therefore, if we look into Article 152 of the Federal Constitution, vernacular schools which fall under public authority are legally required to use Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of communication in schools," he said.
He submitted that the appellants were not seeking the abolishment of vernacular school. Instead, they wanted the use of a medium of communication, Bahasa Malaysia, that could unify vernacular and national schools.
Haniff and Aidil Khalid appeared for the Islamic Education Development Council and the Confederation of Malaysian Writers Association. Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia was represented by Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, and Ikatan Guru-Guru Muslimin Malaysia was represented by Datuk Shaharudin Ali in the appeal.
The judges fixed tomorrow for case management.
The organisations are appealing against Nazlan's decision that the use of the Chinese and Tamil languages in these schools did not breach the Constitution.
The judge had ruled on Dec 29, 2021 that the educational institutions are not a public authority, and that their existence is protected by the Federal Constitution.
The appellants, who filed the suit in December 2019, are seeking a declaration that the existence of vernacular schools goes against the Federal Constitution.
They had named the Malaysian Chinese Language Council, Chinese educationist groups Dong Zong and Jiao Zong, Persatuan Thamizhar Malaysia, Persatuan Tamilar Thurunal (Perak), Persatuan Gabungan Kebajikan Guru-Guru Bersara Sekolah Tamil, the Malaysian Chinese Language Council, Persatuan Malaysia Tamil Neri Kalagam, Gabungan Persatuan Bekas Pelajar Sekolah Tamil Malaysia and SMJK Chong Hwa as the defendants.
Apart from the government, four political parties — MIC, MCA, Gerakan and Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia — have also joined in as defendants.