Observations placeholder
Comenius - Didactica Magna - Keep and encourage vernacular schools
Identifier
020665
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A vernacular or vernacular language is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, especially as distinguished from a literary, national or standard language, or a lingua franca used in the region or state inhabited by that population.
One may think that this is not an issue today, but it is. The following is from an article Education in Malaysia
"The recently launched National Education Blueprint 2006 by Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein focuses purely on “strengthening the national schools”, with vernacular schools representing just a statistic in Malaysia's education landscape. Vernacular schools are often neglected or treated with suspicion due to their ethnically Chinese or Tamil nature. There are widespread fears that the strengthening or even the presence of vernacular schools in Malaysia is antithetical to achieving national unity.
Chinese and Tamil educationists on the other hand, fear the strengthening of national schools will erode the future character and viability of vernacular schools. For many of them, every facet of the existing vernacular education must be protected at all cost. Otherwise, they fear detractors will pounce on any signs of weakness to destroy vernacular education in this country."
A description of the experience
All the young of both sexes should be sent to the public schools… they should first be sent to the Vernacular school.
Some writer are of the contrary opinion. Zepper and Alsted would persuade us that only those boys and girls who are destined for manual labour should be sent to the Vernacular schools, while boys whose parents wish them to receive a higher education should be sent straight to Latin school …..
From this view my whole didactic system forces me to dissent.