Kelantan exco: Mandarin taught in religious schools, doesn't affect their religion

Kelantan exco in charge of education Mohamed Fadzli Hassan (above) said the state government is planning to expand Mandarin lessons for religious schools under the administration of Yayasan Islam Kelantan.

The PAS assemblyperson said this in drawing a contrast to the objections from the non-Malay community to the federal government's plan to introduce three pages of khat (Jawi calligraphy) lessons in the Standard 4 Bahasa Malaysia textbook.

"Kelantan has religious schools that have introduced Mandarin, including at Kolej Islam Antarabangsa Sultan Ismail Petra (Kias), but it does not mean we are interested in or influenced by other religions.

"We also have plans to expand Mandarin lessons as it is considered as a national heritage which contributes to a multi-lingual country," he told a press conference, after the state exco meeting at Kompleks Kota Darulnaim in Kota Bharu.

Fadzli said the Kelantan government encourages students to learn Mandarin, and former menteri besar, the late Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, had also encouraged students to take up the language.

He was referring, in particular, to Dong Zong's claim that the federal government's plan to introduce the khat lessons was a form of "Islamisation". - Mkini