Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan dismissed the claims by parent groups. — Picture by Zuraneeza Zulkifli

KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan dismissed claims by parent groups that the standard of English in international schools was better than that of national schools.

“As far as [claims that] English is better [than in national schools] a comparative study to substantiate that has not been done,” he told Malay Mail Online.

Kamalanathan was asked to comment on claims by Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) and Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education (Magpie) that affluent parents preferred to send their children to international schools so they can be proficient in English.

He also pointed out that his ministry was doing everything within its means to strengthen students’ proficiency at English at national schools.

“We are confident the quality of teaching and learning [English] is improving at national schools.

“In fact, the National Education Blueprint specifically focuses on the mastery of English as a core goal,” he said.

Kamalanathan also said that he did not think there would be a “class divide” between students who graduated from international schools and those from national schools.

“Currently only less than 1 per cent of local students [of the overall student population] study in international schools so the problem of a class divide does not exist,” he said.

Malay Mail Online had reported that there were over 60,000 students in the more than 100 international schools in the country. Of this number, 60 per cent of the student population is made up of Malaysians.