PETALING JAYA: The new minister of education should be given time to deliver, says Datuk Eddie Heng Hong Chai, president of the Malaysian Chinese Language Council.

The council has written to the ministry to seek a meeting with minister Fadhlina Sidek, he said.

Heng said several projects that the council is currently working on — upgrading the command of Malay language in Chinese and Tamil primary schools, promoting STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in Chinese primary schools, improving the standard of Chinese language in Chinese primary schools and secondary schools — would also be submitted to the ministry for support.

Heng is also the chairman of the board of directors of SJKC Sentul, which the minister visited last Friday.

Heng said he had explained to the minister the role played by the Malaysian Chinese Language Council.

“We hope the minister is able to execute fair and comprehensive education policy,” he added.

Heng said the council hoped the education ministry would look into the many pending issues in education, including the teachers’ heavy administrative workload, long list of subjects for primary school students, as well as the issues of allocations, staffing and underpopulated schools.

National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP)secretary-general Fouzi Singon said both the minister and her deputy would be able to manage the ministry well with the support from officers in the ministry of education and the minister’s own experiences in education.

Fouzi said the minister would be bringing up education matters in parliament and implementing policies with the support from teachers and officers.

“We hope the ministry is able to hear from us the teachers, especially NUTP, as we are the largest group representing teachers in the country,” he said.

The NUTP hoped the ministry would look into the release of allocations, wastage reduction, syllabus of primary and secondary schools which are being questioned by the society, school maintenance as well as the operation of year-end assessment and other matters.