PETALING JAYA: Zaid Ibrahim has criticised the actions of a district education officer in Pahang who had ordered schools in Kuantan to conduct daily prayer sessions before the students go home.
The former minister was referring to a report by Bernama last Thursday, on Kuantan district education officer Mohd Razali Mustafar saying he was doing it because prayer is one of the key elements in character building, especially among schoolchildren.
“Imposing this prayer session on students is just another one of the many silly things our educators are perpetrating on our students.
“Religious rituals practised daily in our schools are a failure and they will continue to fail to build character and impart life’s good values.
“You want to build character? Then teach them the meaning of honesty, integrity and hard work,” Zaid said in a blog commentary today.
Razali had reportedly said that the daily prayer session would also help to strengthen the students’ personality and prevent them from getting involved in social problems.
“In striving towards excellence, we are focusing on five main elements, namely character building, information and communication technology, English proficiency, middle leader (teachers) and smart multiplication.
“As such, each school must hold a mass prayer at any suitable area in the school compound,” Razali had said.
However, Zaid countered that such “rituals” are burdensome on students, whom he said are already having to carry out “other rituals”.
“These rituals do nothing to help Malay students become better educated, understand personal responsibility or be more disciplined.
“They are unnecessary and should not be part of 21st-century schooling. I also agree with Abdul Razak Baginda, who said we have ‘too much religion’ in our schools,” he said.
On Nov 28, at a forum titled “Malaysian Education: Where Are We Heading?”, Razak said the growing prominence of religion in schools has had a negative impact on the education system.
“Religion has crept, reared its ugly head in our schools and our educational institutions. It has a negative impact.
“There is too much religion in the system, but no politician will dare say it. Someone will accuse them of being anti-Islam,” the Centre for Global Affairs (Icon) president had said.
Recruit good teachers
Meanwhile, writing further in his blog, Zaid said the education ministry must refrain from “imposing all sorts of religious responsibilities on poor students”.
“Give them a proper education. It does not matter if some of them are not qualified to be an imam.
“Start recruiting good teachers, not those who only know about religious rituals, but educators who are well-versed in the various academic disciplines.
“In that way, students, many of whom are from the lower-income group, can have the chance to excel just like their wealthy friends in private schools do,” he said.
The lawyer-turned politician also accused the proliferation of religious rituals in schools of being yet another sign that “Umno leaders, educators and officials have lost their marbles”.
“It shows clearly they have no other interests or skills to impart to students. These educators seem to be out of their depth when it comes to modern education.
“Only religion and God give them something to talk about, since both subjects require no standard of competence and no competitive environment to excel in,” Zaid said.
He added that for such educators, rituals are easy to enforce because they can put the element of fear into students, without the students even understanding what the whole process is about.
“Maybe, these educators have no clue what character building means. Maybe, they are busy trying to please Umno politicians that they abandon their work, and forget what’s good for the students.”
No moral policemen in the past
Zaid then alluded to the success of Muslims in various fields but who grew up in decades past.
“Men and women of earlier generation, did not have the extent nor intensity of religious rituals of today whether in schools or public places.
“There were no moral policemen looking out for some of them who skipped Friday prayers, or out with the girls at joget centres.
“They somehow did very well as civil servants, judges, journalists, policemen, and political leaders,” he said.
He added that this was because such people had taken pride in their professionalism and understood honour and integrity in the service of the public.
“They lived modestly. It would be out of character for them to parade piety. That’s character for you.
“Life’s lessons can be learnt in many places and in many ways, and from different people too, because character building is a lot more than reciting verses.” -FMT
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