Federal Court upholds constitutionality of vernacular schools

PUTRAJAYA: Two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) today lost their final bid to seek a declaration that the existence and establishment of vernacular schools and the use of Chinese and Tamil languages in those schools are unconstitutional.

A three-member panel of the Federal Court judges led by Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan in a 2-1 majority decision dismissed the leave to appeal filed by the Islamic Education Development Council (Mappim) and the Confederation of Malaysian Writers Association (Gapena) against the Appeals Court's decision on Nov 23 last year.

This means that the Appeals Court's ruling affirming that the existence and establishment of vernacular schools and the use of Chinese and Tamil languages in those schools are unconstitutional, stands.

Justice Lim and Justice Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang dismissed the application of both petitioners, while Justice Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil dissented.

In delivering the majority decision, Justice Lim said that the court found that Mappim and Gapena failed to meet the requirements under Section 96(a) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to be granted leave to appeal on constitutional matters that had been amended by the petitioners.

"Therefore, the application for leave to appeal is dismissed with no costs," she said.