Education and Nation-Building in Plural Societies: the West Malaysian Experience
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The Ausrrolion Development Studies Centre Norionol Universiry Monograph no. 6 Education and nation-buildingin plural societies: The West Malaysian experience The Development Studies Centre has been set up within the Australian National University to help foster and co-ordinate development studies within the University and with other Institutions. The work of the Centre is guided by an Executive Committee under the chairmanship of the Vice Chancellor. The Deputy Chairman is the Director of the Research School of Pacific Studies. The other members of the Committee are: Professor H.W. Arndt Dr W. Kasper Dr C. Barlow Professor D.A. Low Professor J.C. Caldwell (Chairman) Mr E.C. Chapman Dr T .G. McGee Dr R.K. Darroch Dr R.C. Manning Dr C.T. Edwards Dr R.J. May Mr E.K. Fisk Mr D. Mentz Professor J. Fox Dr S.S. Richardson Mr J.L. Goldring Dr L. T. Ruzicka Professor D.M. Griffin Professor T.H. Silcock Mr D.O. Hay Dr R.M. Sundrum Mr J. Ingram Professor Wang Gungwu Professor B.LC. Johnson (Dep. Chairm�n) Dr G.W. Jones Professor R.G. Ward Development Studies Centre Monograph no. 6 Education and nation-building in plural societies: The West Malaysian experience Chai Hon-Chan Series editor E.K Fisl� The Australian National University Canberra 1977 © Chai Hon-Chan 1977 This work is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries may be made to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing in publication entry Chai, Hon-Chan. Education and nation-building in plural societies. (Development Studies Centre monograph series; no. 6). ISBN 0 909150 32 X. 1. Underdeveloped areas - Education. 2. Underdeveloped areas - Race question. 3. Education - West Malaysia. 4. West Malaysia - Race question. I. Title. (Series: Australian National University, Canberra. Development Studies Centre. Monograph series; no. 6). 370.19344091724 Printed and manufactured in Australia by The Australian National University. Ackn owledgments This study was made possible by the generous sabbatical leave granted by the University of Malaya and a grant from the Harvard Institute for International Development . I am grateful for the many courtesies afforded me by Harvard University and the University of Mal aya. Across the years and in various settings , many people have contributed to my understanding of development issues in the less developed countries , particularly multiethnic societies , and the pr esent study owes much to former teachers in the Harvard-MIT community , colleagues and friends . Especially am I indebted at Harvard to Lester Gordon , Director of the Harvard Institute for International Develop ment , and his colleagues Milton Ab elson , John Eddison , Richard Goldman , Michael Roemer , Donald Snodgrass , and Joseph Stern ; sseRu ll Davis and Nathan Glazer, Harvard Graduate School of Educat ion ; Howard Frazier , Harvard Medical School ; Samuel Huntington , Center for International Affairs , David Mcclelland , Department of Psychology and Social Relations ; Martin Katzman , Department of City and Regional Planning; Judith Strauch, Department of Anthropology ; and Jess Hungate, Harvard Law School ; at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , to Harold Isaacs , Center for Inter national Studie� , and Howard Hermann , Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics . I must also record my debt to Adam Curle, School of Peace Studies , Bradford University; C.E. Beeby , New Zealand Council for Educat ional Research , Wellington ; Alec Ross , Department of Educational Research , Lancaster University; Tom Frost , Central Office of Informat ion , London ; John Bock , School of Education , Stanford University; Adolph Wilburn , Council for Internat ional Exchange of Scholars, Washington , D. C. ; Cynth ia Enloe, Department of Government , Clark University ; Colin MacAndrews , Ro ckefeller Foundation ; Chew Sing Buan and Awang Had Salleh, Faculty of Education , University of Malaya. For their unfailing help , I wish to thank Pam Rowley, HIID Library ; Fan Kok Sim and Yeoh Hooi Hong, University of Malaya Library. For secretarial assistance in transforming v vi an un tidy manuscript into legible print and for countless • cups of• cheering coffee at HIID, my thanks to Mary Lavallee This study was greatly facilitated by the gracious hospitality of Jean and Arthur Brooks , Jr, and the wise counsel and fellowship of Rob ert Straus . Chai Hon-Chan Faculty of Education University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur March 1977 Summary West Malaysia , like most of the new states that emerged from the dismantled colonial empires of the West af ter World War II, faced the formidable task of creating a nation out of the disparate ethnic groups whose differences in language , religion , history , culture and conflicting perceptions of their place in the changing political order provided few natural bases for national integration . In this setting education was seen as the primary instrument of building a Malaysian nation , the central aim being to replace primordial group (Malay , Chinese, Indian ) loyalties with an overarching national identity , at the heart of which would be the national language , Malay or Bahasa Malaysia. The search for a constitut ional framework for a Malaysian nat ion was guided by the paramotlllt concern to ensure that the Malays would not be swamped politically and economically by the Chinese and Indians who , in 1947, formed about 50 per cent of the populat ion . Consequently social and economic policies had to strike an tllleasy balance between satisfying the differing and often competing demands of a plural society an d prefer entially promoting the social advancement of the Malays who had been lagging behind the non-Malays in economic development . The 1950s saw the start of a restructuring of the educational system. Bahasa Malaysia was firmly established as the of ficial language and a process began in 1970 to phase out English as a medium of instruction . Although English remains as a key second language , the disappearance of the English-medium schools will have a far-reaching effect on the nature and direction of educational and social change . As the main. medium of instruction , Bahasa Malaysia will play a critical role in reshaping the identity of the yotlllger generation of Chinese, Indians , Malays and other indigenous people. vii Contents Page The framework for national integration 1 Social policy and the educat ional process 18 Structural changes in the primary schools and the educational process 30 Structural changes in the secondary schools and the educat ional process 38 The impact of higher education on ethnic relations 48 Education and the restructuring of a plural society 57 Conclusion 68 Tables 77 ix Education and nation-building in plural societies : the West Malaysian experience Most of the new states that emerged after World War II from the dismantled colonial empires of the West inherited plural societies characterized by the coexistence within the new polities of diverse ethnic groups whose differences in language , religion , and culture provided no natural bases for national integration . In this setting education was seen as the primary instrument of nation-building. There was an optimistic faith in the in strumental value of education to socialize the younger generation into the new civic cultures and to instil in them an allegiance to the new national governments . Prominent among the aims of education was that of changing individual and group identities so as to replace primordial group loyalties with an overriding national identity . Centralized control over education therefore tended to be total , and the spirit of nationalism tended to be pervasive . In many in stances , the change from colonial dependence to national sovereignty entailed structural changes in the educational system to reconcile conflicting subsystems , bridge discon tinuities between one level or stream of education and another, reorientate the curricula and rewrite textbooks to ensure that certain affective and cognitive learning out comes were consonant with national ideals . These changes were generally aimed at extending or consolidating governmen t control over education . Theoretically at the most fundamental level of national in tegration is the development in individuals of a subj ective feeling of loyalty to the nation . This involves complex psychological processes of individual change , and the outcome depends on the ideals of the society and the political process as much as, if not more than, the educa tiona l process itself. At any rate, a minimum level of li teracy and allegiance to the government facilitates the psychological integration of the elites and the masses. Being socialized in to the civic culture presupposes the development of a minimum value consensus necessary for the maintenance of social order. 1 2 These may be instrumental values concerning the legitimacy of the political process , the structure of the educational system, or social and economic channels for individual mobility ; or they may be terminal values dealing with social justice and economic equity , the acceptability of certain national symbols , the ef ficacy of the existing political order , or the ideal of economic growth . The in strumental values are particularly crucial because they deal with means and procedures for the achievement of societal goals and for resolving conflicts. In short,