ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the future prospects of language and education policies for the development of national integration are examined. The government has introduced a new approach in education policies to develop national integration. This approach is intended to promote an ideal ‘unity in diversity’ by enhancing ethnic interaction. Ethnic interaction is expected to create mutual understanding, respect and trust among ethnic groups as basic factors for developing national integration. In the new approach, the promotion of national identity is not reliant on the government-defined form but on individual behaviours because ethnic interaction cannot be forced. This chapter examines how the government understands the relationship between ethnic interaction and national integration and explains details of the Vision School concept and the Rancangan Integrasi Murid Untuk Perpaduan (RIMUP) as examples of ethnic interaction policies in education.
