THE United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong) will launch a petition opposing the teaching of khat in vernacular schools, despite assurances from the Education Ministry it will not be an examination subject.

Dong Zong chairman Tan Tai Kim said the campaign will draw support from Chinese associations, education boards, parent-teacher associations, alumni groups and Tamil education groups.

He said the petition will call for the Education Ministry to only retain the introduction of khat alongside Chinese and Tamil writing for the Standard 5 Bahasa Malaysia syllabus.

“Non-Muslim students being introduced to khat is unacceptable to the non-Muslim community and violates Article 12(3) of the Federal Constitution,” he said during a press conference today.

The drive comes after the cabinet decided to proceed with the introduction of khat lessons for Year Four pupils in vernacular schools, but with some adjustments, said Education Minister Maszlee Malik on Thursday.

The education minister said the decision was reached at the weekly cabinet meeting after discussing objections to the inclusion of khat in the Bahasa Malaysia syllabus.

Under the new cabinet instructions, khat lessons will cover three pages of the Year Four BM textbook, down from the six pages proposed previously.

“The cabinet also decided that the introduction of khat will be optional, with teachers given the power to decide on its implementation in their respective classrooms,” Maszlee told a press conference in Putrajaya.

He said khat is only one of many topics in the BM syllabus, and how it is taught is up to teachers’ creativity.

“It (khat) is in the textbook. It is up to teachers to use their own creativity.

“We want to emphasise that the cabinet has agreed that it will not be included in exams.”

He added that khat serves as an introduction to the Jawi script.

“We want to educate pupils about the country’s heritage. We can see the Jawi script in many places, even on ringgit notes.” – August 10, 2019.