Around 20% of pupils in Malaysia's Chinese primary schools are non-Chinese

It’s tough for many with most subjects taught in Mandarin, but parents see value in learning it

- Vihanya Rakshika

More than 100,000 children, or around one-fifth of pupils, in Malaysia’s Chinese primary schools are non-Chinese, and many are struggling with their studies in an environment where most subjects are taught in Mandarin, said a new series of reports by the Malaysian media.

Data from the Education Ministry and Dong Jiao Zong, or the United Chinese School Committees’ Association and the United Chinese School Teachers’ Association of Malaysia, shows that the number of non-Chinese pupils in Malaysia’s Chinese-vernacular schools has risen steadily over the decades.

In 1989, non-Chinese made up only 3 per cent of the population of pupils in Chinese primary schools. By 1998, the percentage had gone up to 8.7 per cent before rising again to 11.8 per cent in 2010, and then 20 per cent in 2020.