Group urges stop to plan for Jawi survey

Kuala Lumpur: An educationist group has urged the Education Ministry to stop its plan to conduct a survey on the inclusion of a module on Jawi calligraphy in primary school Bahasa Melayu textbooks and to consider a more inclusive approach in introducing native languages to pupils, China Press reported.

In a statement, Dong Zong urged parent-teacher associations and school boards to stand firm on rejecting the current form in which Jawi calligraphy is introduced to primary school pupils.

It was earlier reported that the various state education departments sent letters to Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools on conducting a survey on whether parents agree for the module to be included in Year Four Bahasa Melayu textbooks.

Dong Zong insisted that the introduction of Jawi calligraphy should be done together with other native languages in the country.

This is in line with a proposal made by Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon last December to introduce a multilingual resource manual which includes the native languages of Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sabah and Sarawak.

“We have called on the Education Ministry many times to consult with societies to address this issue but have received no reply. We want them to gather these organisations and set up a committee on a multilingual resource manual,” the group said. –  The Star