The Education Ministry will roll out a new Year Five Bahasa Malaysia syllabus for vernacular schools in 2021 and Year Six in 2022.
Like the revised Year Four syllabus slated to be implemented next year onwards, both textbooks will contain three pages of optional Jawi lessons that will not be tested in examinations even if taught.
Similarly, parents will get the biggest say in whether their children will be taught the lessons.
While the exact content is yet to be published, Education Ministry deputy director-general for Policy and Curriculum Habibah Abdul Rahim has given an idea of what students and parents can expect.
“In Year Five, we will focus on the Tugu Negara (National Monument), road signages and the halal label that is written in Jawi.
“In Year Six, among the suggestions are for Hari Raya cards, university signages, and historical artefacts.
“Rest assured, we are not going to change (the learning of Malay from) Rumi (Roman script) to Jawi, nor are we going to increasingly introduce Jawi in Bahasa Malaysia,” she shared during a public forum at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall last night.
Titled “Jawi Forum: Understanding Each Other”, forum panellists shared their perspectives on the government’s now-controversial plan to teach Jawi to Year Four pupils.
Next year, Year Four Bahasa Malaysia textbooks will include an introductory lesson on the traditional Malay script featuring Jawi texts found on postage stamps, the national coat of arms and the ringgit note.
This will be the first time that Jawi is introduced at the Year Four level.
Only Jawi in the new syllabus
Jawi, however, is already part of the Year Five Bahasa Malaysia syllabus. Checks by Malaysiakini on the current textbook found that it was featured alongside introductions to the Chinese and Tamil script.
Come 2021, Habibah confirmed that this syllabus will be replaced with the above-mentioned version and only feature Jawi.
This, she explained, was to encourage students to appreciate the culture and heritage of the Malay language in addition to acquiring comprehension, speaking, reading and writing skills.
Habibah suggested that the scripts of other languages could still be used as a teaching tool during Jawi lessons in the classroom.
“When we revised the curriculum (for Year Five), we wanted to reinforce the teaching and learning of Malay. In terms of seni bahasa (language arts), the element that is related to Malay is Jawi. That is why we decided to drop the other scripts.
“Thus far, it has been taught as part of a theme on unity. We could possibly find space to include (other scripts) in another way in the future.
“Since Jawi is an element in the learning (of Malay), other scripts can also be used as an activity or strategy by teachers when introducing Jawi. There is nothing stopping teachers from using the other writings as well,” she explained when asked by moderator Nathaniel Tan on the syllabus changes.
Like for Year Four pupils, parents and Parent-Teacher Associations will get to vote and ultimately decide if the year’s Year Five and Six students will be taught Jawi lessons in class.
Dong Zong disagrees
Commenting on the ministry’s plan, United Chinese School Committees’ Association (Dong Zong) secretary-general Ng Chai Heng said he preferred the present Year Five Jawi syllabus.
“We hope this Jawi issue will be resolved and that the existing (Year Five) Jawi lessons be used instead...
“We don’t want the three-page Jawi lesson (starting 2021), we want the existing lessons,” he said when asked by the media after the forum.
Earlier, during the forum, Ng had stressed how Dong Zong was supportive of this more "multicultural" context of introducing Jawi to students.
Organised by NGO Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia, last night’s event was held to clear the air ahead of Dong Zong’s Chinese Organisations Joint Conference on the Jawi issue this Saturday.
Perceiving as being “anti-Jawi”, the conference has hit a raw nerve among Malay nationalist groups. Some have threatened violence and called for Dong Zong to be banned should it proceed.
The police are expected to be present at the scene.
Dong Zong is organising the conference along with its frequent collaborator the United Chinese School Teachers’ Association (Jiao Zong).- Mkini
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