Left to PTAs to choose, Jawi lessons as good as cancelled, say groups

Timothy Achariam Lee Chi Leong Timothy Achariam, Lee Chi Leong Updated 6 years ago · Published on 17 Aug 2019 7:04AM · 10 Comments

Chinese educationists are resistant to the idea of Jawi and khat being taught in the vernacular schools. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, August 17, 2019.

THE cabinet decision to leave it to the parents and teachers to decide whether or not Year Four pupils should learn Jawi could cause problems if opinions are split, say stakeholders.

And while it lets the government off the hook, it could also mean the end of Jawi in the vernacular schools as the individual parent-teacher association are likely to say no, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) said.

The cabinet decision could even be unlawful as under the Education Act,  parents and teachers do not have the power to make policy decisions on the school syllabus.

Edward Neoh, the adviser to Jia Zong, or the Zhong Hua Language Education Loving Parents Network Association, said the Education Act 1996 does not grant parents and teachers the authority to make such decisions.

“Education policies should be decided by the Ministry of Education. PTAs cannot make decisions as it would be a breach of the Education Act,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

He said parents in Jia Zong were frustrated that the cabinet had decided to let the PTAs have the final say.

Neoh said he expected conflicts to arise.

“What if the parents of Malay pupils in a Chinese school want it to be taught, but the PTA says no? Who steps in then to resolve this?” Neoh said.

He said he preferred the Education Ministry’s earlier decision to let teachers choose how khat would be taught.

“The previous decision was better as the teachers were given the freedom to decide how to teach khat.”

Neoh also said he appreciated the ministry’s willingness to compromise by reducing the number of pages on Jawi in the Bahasa Melayu textbook from six to three 

Passing the buck

Jia Zong chairman Ronnie Wong said making the PTA the decision-maker could create more problems now that the student enrolment in Chinese vernacular schools, or SJKC for “sekolah jenis kebangsaan Cina”, is no longer racially homogenous.

“In SJKC now, there are many races. There are Malay pupils as their parents want them to learn Mandarin. They may want their children to learn khat, but meanwhile, Chinese parents may not want their children learning Jawi script.

“The school administration will bear the brunt of this,” he said. 

NUTP president Aminuddin Awang said that by passing the buck to the PTAs, the cabinet had basically ensured that Jawi lessons were over before they had begun.

“If they (the PTA of vernacular schools) are given the power to decide if they want to have the three pages of khat in the syllabus, then we can already guess the outcome,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Amiruddin said the PTAs were bound to say no as they had rejected the idea from the beginning.

He said education matters should be left to academics and educationists and that politics should not influence policies.

The Tamil Foundation, as one of the vernacular education groups opposed to the proposed teaching of khat and Jawi, was pleased that Tamil parents could now reject the lessons for their children.

‘Very good thing’

Its president C.M. Thiraviam said it was likely that the PTAs of Tamil vernacular schools would vote no to the lessons.

“As far as I’m concerned, the parents won’t allow it. Tamil schools nationwide are rejecting it.”

“It’s a very good thing, this looks like a win-win situation for the school, pupils and parents,” he said.

Thiraviam said some Tamil schools had even campaigned against the policy to introduce Jawi in Year Four.

While the cabinet might have contravened the Education Act with its decision, Thiraviam said he understood that it was simply being practical.

The cabinet decided on Wednesday that it would be left to the PTAs to determine whether Jawi should be in the Year Four Bahasa Melayu syllabus after weeks of heated debate over the policy that was introduced by the former Barisan Nasional government. – August 17, 2019. 

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Comments

  • Don't have to talk so much. Education Ministry has given the PTA freedom to choose. So it is up to them.

    Posted 6 years ago by Penganalisa L · Reply

  • And MI, you don't have to sensationize the matter longer with your title

    Posted 6 years ago by Penganalisa L · Reply

  • Who cares .... as long as common sense prevails and doing things right for our children and future generations

    Posted 6 years ago by Rupert Lum · Reply

  • Wise parents who for the future n bread n butter of the child will Reject khat jawi bcoz we can use that precious time to learn other usefull languages that can help us
    Earn a Living.

    Posted 6 years ago by Mindy Singh · Reply

  • The parents know best and will act in the best interests of their children. Not politicians.

    Posted 6 years ago by Arul Inthirarajah · Reply

  • If our minister has foresight, he would have stopped khat implementation from the very beginning, like pruning away any other BN-era policy. He has just missed the credit he would have earned because of sentimental stupidity.

    Posted 6 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

    • Malays hv only got One Modal only to play with that is Race n Religion They DONT HAVE INTELLIGENCE THEY HAVE CUNNINGNESS To Cheat Other Races in msia Back Door Policy.

      Posted 6 years ago by Mindy Singh · Reply

  • If the Malay students in Chinese school want to learn their parents should teach them at home or get a private tutor! They can also request the school to have extra class for the 3 pages to be teach outside the normal timetable.

    Posted 6 years ago by Chee yee ng · Reply

  • Is BM going to die without Jawi and khat? No. So just teach Romanised BM as per the Constitution and National Language Act 1963/67. Jawi and khat should remain as elective subjects only.

    Posted 6 years ago by Gerard Lourdesamy · Reply

  • PTA could commit to try for 1 year, and commit to renew the decision on a yearly basis after review.

    Posted 6 years ago by K S · Reply