Chinese Schools Record Nearly 20% Bumiputera Student Enrolment In 2024
Bumiputera student enrolment in Chinese vernacular schools has risen by 58% over the past 10 years.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 11 Jul 2024, 11:47 AM
About one in five students who enrolled in Chinese vernacular schools this year are Bumiputera students, said Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek
Fadhlina revealed this in a parliamentary written reply to Raub Member of Parliament (MP) Chow Yu Hui, who requested demographic data on student enrolments in vernacular and international schools over the past 10 years.
She said 18.52% of students who enroled in Chinese vernacular schools in 2024 are Bumiputera students. The enrolment figure has risen by 58% from 11.67% in 2014 to 18.52% in 2024.
In Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK), Fadhlina said the number of Bumiputera student enrolments has also risen, from 93.81% in 2014 to 95.12% in 2024.
"Meanwhile, non-Bumiputera student enrolment [in SK] decreased from 6.19% in 2014 to 4.88% in 2024," she said.
As for Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT), Fadhlina noted a marginal increase in the enrolment of Bumiputera students from 0.38% in 2014 to 0.49% in 2024.
"The percentage of non-Bumiputera students in SJKT [maintained] around 99% from 2014 to 2024," she said in the written reply dated 9 July.
Fadhlina then highlighted that there are 88,951 international school students in Malaysia, with 59,726 (67.1%) being Malaysians and 29,225 (32.9%) being non-Malaysians
"Among the Malaysian students, 19.9% are Bumiputera and 80.1% are non-Bumiputera.
"This represents a 34% increase in Malaysian students enrolling in international schools from 2019 to 2024.
"Bumiputera student enrolment in these schools has increased by 49.4%, while the number of non-Bumiputera students attending international schools has increased by 30.6%," the Education Minister said.
Bumiputera parents enrolling their children in Chinese vernacular schools has often made headlines in recent years.
In March, SJK(C) Chi Sin, a small Chinese school in Batu Kikir, Negeri Sembilan, captured nationwide attention when its Year One class for this academic year was made up of only Malay students.
Last year, SJK(C) Ton Fah in Beranang, Selangor, also made headlines for having 52.57% Malay students, outnumbering Chinese students.
