BY NUR ASHIKIN LOUIS & SARAH HAFIZAH CHANDRA
KUCHING: Rancangan Integrasi Murid Untuk Perpaduan or Student Integration Plan for Unity (RIMUP) will be reintroduced in the state next year, says Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah.
“Under RIMUP, programmes will be organised for school students, especially schools with a single race, to interact with students from other schools through games, cultural activities and so on.
“This serves to help instil and strengthen unity among them,” she explained to the press after officiating the feedback on the National Unity Action Plan (PTPN) 2021-2025 draft programme at Yayasan Sarawak here today.
The Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister also mentioned that the plan would begin in primary schools next year and the cost would be borne by the state government.
RIMUP was previously implemented by the ministry’s Social Development Council but was temporarily ceased after Pakatan Harapan became the federal government.
Fatimah added that RIMUP was a more proactive step to address the issue of polarisation due to the absence of social interaction among students from homogenous schools, instead of calling for abolishment of vernacular schools.
“We should understand why vernacular schools exist in the first place, what their position is now, and why there are calls to abolish them.
“Vernacular schools have their pros and cons but if one of the weaknesses is that their students did not socialise and are only limited to their race group, then we should deliberate on what we can do to solve this.
“Instead of abolishing vernacular schools, it is better to organise programmes that address the main issues and promote social interaction. We learn from one another – social interaction is very important.”
On Aug 26, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said vernacular schools should be abolished in stages, claiming that they were a hindrance to unity among Malaysians.
He also claimed that vernacular schools had not produced students who possessed ‘strong national identity’.
