Ethnic Boundary among Students in Malaysian Primary Schools and Social Interaction: A Conceptual Framework

Educational system in Malaysia has been deeply influenced by the colonial educational system left during British colonization. The arrival of Chinese and Indians immigrant to Malaysia leads to the existence of vernacular schools such as Malays, Chinese and Indians schools. This paper argues that ethnic boundary via vernacular schools is one of the factors that barricade the social interaction between multi ethnic students in Malaysia. The existence of ethnic boundary arguably, limits the social interaction among multi ethnic students and thus enhances stereotype and social distance.