Marketing Tamil Schools

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Elanjelian Venugopal

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Feb 16, 2014, 11:24:19 AM2/16/14

to Tamil Foundation, Rajendran Nagappan, muthusamy mottain, Supramani Shoniah

Vanakkam.

Today, Tamil Schools face the biggest existential challenge in 20 years. If you recall, Tamil School enrollment dropped to around 88,000 some 20 years or ago, and then the trend reversed. But having hit a high water mark of 105k enrollment, we back to where we starting point, it appears. Tamil School enrollment today is already or almost 88k now.

See the graph below. While the enrollment in all schools was declining in 2008 and 2009, Tamil Schools were growing in those years. But the following two years showed a mild decline, which became a precipitous drop in 2012 and 2013. (The line marked green is Tamil Schools.)

The enrollment is down by 10% since 2007. So, the question is what can we do to reverse this alarming trend?

We know for a fact that Tamil Schools are performing as well as SKs, and have exceeded the performance of Chinese Schools. Yet, a section of our parents favour those schools compared to ours. I think Tamil Foundation should mount a campaign to highlight the positive aspects of Tamil Schools, and disillusion our people. The media needs to be updated on all the good things that has happened in the last 10 years.

The catchphrase to me is this: "The Quite Revolution". That's what has taken place in Tamil Schools. They produce better student outcomes year-in year-out. They excel in Science and Math, where their pass rate in both the subjects is well above 90% mark!

But unfortunately, this is not what's reported in the press. Our media still harp on broken chairs and dilapidated buildings. This is no longer an issue for us. There are other issues, which are highlighted in the action plan. And, solving those issues require quiet, but continuous, engagement with the powers-that-be. But in the meantime, we need to change the discourse. We need unstinting, relentless positive messages. We need to convince parents that Tamil Schools are where the action is, and that Tamil Schools lay the best foundation for STEM education in Malaysia.