PETALING JAYA: The government has been urged to stop holding Palestine solidarity programmes in schools following reports of students and teachers carrying toy guns at the events.
Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said there were concerns over the appropriateness of such programmes in schools.
She said the photos and videos of children carrying guns were an example of what could go wrong with such events.
One 55-second video that went viral showed what appeared to be a man pointing a toy rifle at students while leading a group of teachers waving Palestinian flags into an assembly.
There were also photos of children at a separate school wearing bandanas bearing the words “Save Palestine” and carrying toy guns.
“Students are being used. Such programmes should be stopped immediately,” Noor Azimah told FMT.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called for better control of Palestine solidarity programmes in schools to avoid causing any issues.
The education ministry had said the events in the photos and videos which went viral were not in line with the ministry’s guidelines.
It also said it was held outside of the Palestine Solidarity Week between Oct 29 and Nov 3.
The ministry said it would not compromise with any extremist activities and that the use of toy guns or the portrayal of provocative logos was not allowed.
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