PETALING JAYA: Non-Muslim students should not be forced to eat in storerooms or other inappropriate places when every school has a canteen that can accommodate them, says education minister Fadhlina Sidek.
She said it was important to build an environment of mutual understanding and respect among students nationwide.
“I do not want to see a situation where non-Muslim children eat in the storeroom or inappropriate places when there is a canteen available.
“The management and services of school canteens are covered in a circular, which stipulates that a school’s canteen shall operate throughout the period the school is in session,” she said in the Dewan Rakyat.
She was responding to Salamiah Nor (PN-Temerloh) regarding the ministry’s directive for school canteens to operate during the Ramadan month.
Fadhlina also said Muslim students would be supervised by their teachers during recess.
“I have emphasised the importance of ensuring that non-Muslim students understand their Muslim friends’ practice of fasting and for them to respect each other,” she added.
On Monday, Fadhlina announced that school canteens would continue to operate as usual during the fasting month, citing it as part of the schools’ SOPs.
The ministry’s directive was criticised by the head of PAS’s ulama wing, Ahmad Yahaya, who deemed it “excessive” and insulting in the holy month of Ramadan.
He had suggested that the education ministry focus on educating Muslim students on the significance of fasting and for non-Muslim students to respect the practice. - FMT
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