Dr Wee: DAP, Education Ministry contradicting each other over khat in schools

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has lambasted the Pakatan Harapan government for its misleading statements regarding the teaching of khat in schools.

The MCA president said that Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik had issued a statement, saying that teachers can only decide on their teaching methods for khat.

He said that Dr Maszlee had said that "the introduction of khat calligraphy is implemented optionally, with teachers given the power to decide on their own classroom methods".

"In other words, teachers can only choose their teaching method, instead of deciding not to teach it. Then, it is not an elective topic, ” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday (Aug 8).

He said that this showed that the topic was not an elective.

“(Deputy Education Minister) Teo Nie Ching’s Facebook post and (Finance Minister) Lim Guan Eng’s statement saying that khat is an elective topic are both misleading, " said Dr Wee.

Dr Wee likened the teaching of khat to the multiplication table, and said that schools could opt for different methods to help pupils learn better, adding that the topic apparently was not an elective.

“They should not keep taking the Chinese community for a ride, especially after lying about immediately recognising the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), ” he added.

The Ayer Hitam MP also pointed out that Dr Maszlee had said nothing about the teaching scope of khat for Standard Five and Six.

“According to the Ministry’s question-and-answer on Aug 6, the teaching of khat will be implemented for upper primary levels; Year Four in 2020, Year Five in 2021 and Year Six in 2022.

“How many pages will there be for the khat topic? How will it be taught? Will there be tests?

“Are we going to argue about this every year? Will it be like what Teo had said earlier that 'the future depends on everyone’s supervision'?

“If the Ministry is really listening to the people, why not solve this once and for all?” he added.- Star