Will Mahathir’s plans to ‘de-religionise’ national schools work?

Bernama pic.

I refer to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s speech at the Sultan Abdul Hamid Old Collegians Association dinner last night where he announced that the curriculum of national schools will be revamped to better equip our students for earthly life.

He said, “someone changed the curriculum in the schools, and now the national schools have become religious schools”.

According to him, our national schools are no longer in sync with our country’s manpower needs and ambitions for development.

I am not sure who was that “someone” our PM referred to, but to me it was the “government of Malaysia” from the mid-1960s onwards when it began to fiddle with our education system with all kinds of half-baked jingoistic and “holier than thou” ideas.

Today, it is not just national schools that have become religious or monolingual. It is the whole gambit of poor work culture, skewed worldviews and lopsided study of civilizations and world history that have beset our national school system.

We can try to change all of this, but be prepared for a strong reaction.

It is unfortunate that it took us more than half a century to realise our folly. But do we? Is the nation behind Mahathir’s idea to revamp our national schools to make them less “religious” and more relevant and practical for earthly living?

To begin with, Mahathir did not even speak in Malay to the nation so that the common folks will get to hear and understand him. His audience was a group of very urbane Malaysians who probably do not even need any of his reminders.

I am not being negative here; I really wish our PM’s idea and ambition will become a reality. But I have two questions which I want to raise now rather than later.

First, what if another anti-ICERD-type rally is staged against the “de-religionisation” of our national schools?

Second, would the government stand firm on its resolve to change the national schools or would it cave in to pressure again?

For far too long, we have allowed parochial interests to prevail and archaic ideas to flourish. They have become sacrosanct because many at the helm today are themselves made up of people with no English proficiency and with world views that are insular and non-cosmopolitan.

I think too many Malaysians today have been inculcated and indoctrinated in the wrong path. This is where leadership and tenacity come in.

The government must provide the impetus for change to take place, regardless of intense opposition from entrenched groups.

I wish Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan all the best.

TK Chua is an FMT reader.