A teacher from a rural secondary school (SMK) in Johor has taken to social media to express concern over the low proficiency of Chinese students in the Malay language, highlighting a significant communication barrier within the school.
In a Reddit post, the teacher, who remains anonymous, shared their frustration after discovering that nearly 80% of the Chinese students in their school struggle with basic Malay.
Unable to even form basic sentence
Some students, the teacher noted, are unable to form or understand simple sentences, making everyday communication difficult.
In many cases, we need a translator—usually a Malay prefect who can speak Mandarin—just to communicate with them when issues arise,” the teacher wrote.
The situation was particularly shocking to the teacher, who had studied in Selangor, where many of their Chinese peers spoke Malay fluently.
“Makes teaching and learning so much harder.”
The language barrier is especially concerning for educators teaching subjects such as Sejarah, Bahasa Melayu, Moral, and even Mathematics, as students struggle to understand key terms.
The teacher suspects that the issue may stem from their primary education in Chinese national-type schools (SJKC), where Bahasa Melayu is often taught in Mandarin.
It’s incredibly frustrating for teachers… It makes teaching and learning so much harder than it should be,” the post continued.
Netizens’ reaction
The post quickly sparked discussion, generating more than 200 comments discussing their experiences.
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