ANWAR Ibrahim says the government’s priority should been strengthening the mastery of Bahasa Malaysia and not on “trivial issues” such as the teaching of Jawi or khat, reports Malaysiakini.

However, the PKR president said he was not against the Education Ministry’s revised plan to introduce Jawi lessons for Year 4 vernacular school pupils.

“We can’t question the status of the Malay language. It is important to uphold its status as the national language.

“After that, if we want to improve the use of other languages, that is allowed. It is not a zero-sum game,” Anwar was quoted as saying after an event in Shah Alam today.

“With that (focus on mastering BM), other smaller issues, like khat and Jawi, becomes trivial,” added the Port Dickson MP.

On the teaching of Jawi in vernacular schools, Anwar said: “I didn’t say I did not support it. For me, the priority is to strengthen mastery of the language.

“There is no compromise on that.” 

Anwar also urged Malays to be more open to learning other languages.

The Education Ministry’s original plan to introduce six pages of Jawi lessons in the Year 4 Bahasa Melayu textbook was revised following pushback from non-Malay communities.

The cabinet then announced that only three pages would contain Jawi lessons, and that this would only be taught in vernacular schools if they are endorsed by its parent-teacher associations. – August 18, 2019.