By Teo Cheng Wee

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has defended the future of Chinese and Indian primary schools, quashing a call by Umno Youth aspirant-chief Mukhriz Mahathir to merge them with Malay national schools.

Malaysia's vernacular schools, where most subjects are taught in Mandarin and Tamil, will exist as long as the Chinese and Indian communities need such a system, said Datuk Seri Najib.

It was his attempt to douse a fire started by Datuk Mukhriz, who brought up the sensitive issue of education for minorities. The son of former premier Mahathir Mohamad said an integrated primary education system was 'the best way' to achieve racial unity, saying the vernacular system fostered racial polarisation.

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