GEORGE TOWN (Nov 29, 2009): Concerns have been raised that the federal government’s imposition of a maximum 10 subjects for SPM candidates would harm the future of Tamil and Chinese literature.

Deputy Chief Minister (II) Prof Dr P. Ramasamy said the policy should be amended to allow 12 subjects, so that those who wished to sit for Chinese or Tamil could do so without affecting the needs of their academic streams.

“The federal government decision to impose this limit will have far-reaching consequences,” Remasamy told a press conference today.

Present was Penang’s Tamil Schools Sub-Committee chairman Dr K. Anbalakan, a history lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had announced in June the six “core” or compulsory subjects for SPM as Bahasa Melayu, English, Islamic Education or Moral Studies, History, Mathematics and Science.

The concern now was that a student would be forced to choose non-literature subjects for the remaining four options.

As an example, Ramasamy said,  a science student would be forced to take Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Additional Mathematics, making it impossible for him to sit for Tamil or Chinese literature.

A commerce student would similarly be pressured to take accounts, commerce, economics and geography.

“If this goes ahead , it will be the death of Tamil and Tamil literature in our national schools,” he said.

“With students not being able to take Tamil as a subject, our Tamil schools will have a problem getting qualified teachers in the future,” he said. All teachers in Tamil schools are required to have passed Tamil as an SPM subject.

Ramasamy, who is also the Batu Kawan MP, said he was planning to propose an emergency resolution in Parliament against the current maximum number of subjects for SPM.