YOURSAY | ‘For unity, kids should go to schools in secular M’sia.’

New 'Imam Al-Nawawi 40 Hadith' module for Muslims only: Edu Ministry

P Dev Anand Pillai: It is now seen and confirmed that we are on our way to making our national schools “little madrasahs” (religious schools). If you talk about unity, our young should go to the same school as what we were used to in the days of secular Malaysia.

The introduction of these teachings - Imam Al-Nawawi 40 Hadith - will only make the already polarised national school demographics even worse.

It is clear now that the Malays are not interested in this nation being secular like what it was when it was first born in 1957. It is sad to note that we are living to see this transformation take place. We don’t seem to have an option after all, it is either a highly corrupt, authoritarian and abusive administration or a highly inept, religiously domineering and flip-flop administration.

It looks like we would have to be prepared for what is to come and ensure that we stand united to face these challenges.

VGeorgemy: What else can Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek do for the salary she is earning? She hasn’t been exposed to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education stream during her schooling.

We have state religious departments headed by the sultans to vet and introduce the respective educational programmes in the religious schools. The education minister should only concentrate on the non-Islamic syllabus and streams in our national curriculum.

The minister needs to know her role in the ministry in the first place. The Education Ministry in conservative Islamic countries in the Middle East only talks about non-Islamic subjects, such as STEM, for the students. At the same time, the religious affairs handle the Islamic education. We thought that the same was applicable here also.

We can only sympathise with the students at the national schools for the confused ministers and their leadership.

Koel: In the last few years and with the pandemic, the world has changed drastically. The world of Maths, sciences and social sciences has changed so drastically that the knowledge of today is quickly becoming obsolete.

Digitalisation and artificial intelligence are changing the nature of work. Many Asian countries are quickly playing catch up to keep up. Schools there are changing their emphases. However, our schools are nowhere near even understanding the different changes taking place in the different disciplines.

Many of our school students have very little general knowledge of matters outside of frivolous ones, like those on Facebook, or Instagram. Even some of our public universities are still using outdated modules in science, IT and information systems, among others.

We have limited funds from taxpayers for education purposes due to poor budget allocations. Much of that is being wasted. Do you see what people's concerns are? Teach ethics, philosophy and religious studies.

Teaching only one kind of religious knowledge for just one segment of society using taxpayer monies that should be spent on updating our schools, teachers and students is the work of people who are out of touch or couldn’t care less about the future of Malaysian children.

As for extremist ideology, a great deal is now already available online. How do you deal with that? Teach kids reasoning, critical thinking and media literacy to counter the overwhelming availability of brainwashing everywhere.

Get them to read and debate widely on current issues and happenings around the world. Currently, kids lack that sort of grounding that is to be found in kids overseas and in neighbouring countries.

Stop infantilising students and pandering to cheap tastes of what they can and cannot do. That is how you can prepare them.

PurpleGropher1703: DAP has lost its voice and compass, fearful of the race/religious “Green Wave” shadow to the point that they are now blind, deaf and dumb to the worries of the populace who voted them in to champion a fair and peaceful existence.

Never has anyone asked for a non-Malay prime minister, to turn Chinese or Tamil into the national language or prohibit anyone from converting to the religion they choose.

Many have asked for a society where everyone, regardless of race, religion and wealth can coexist in peace and be friends. The recent toxicity from certain parties is being compounded by the PM and home ministry trying to out Islam other parties.

DAP used to be the voice of reason, countering any nonsense, this is sorely missing now. It was the same as when MCA lost its voice and guts to the point that we, third and fourth-generation non-Malays are being thrashed on as guests rather than citizens.

Anonymous: Malaysia is doomed under PKR, Umno and DAP. Mr Madani (Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim) is showing his true colours. His 25 years of promises, screaming for reformasi, is just a big lie to win votes.

The Madani government, once in power, appears to be subtly perpetuating the 2R (race and religion) agenda supported by DAP. Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad knew the serious concern and was taking the right path as he had frequently and rightfully hit out at “too much religion” in schools.

He wanted to transform it to focus on STEM for the children and the nation's survival. The facts are all here. In 2021, Mahathir said the nation needs more scientists, not ulama (religious scholars).

“Religious education is to instil basic Islam in its teachings and values and should not come at the expense of pupils living in an increasingly tech-focused world”, said Mahathir.

“There is an overemphasis on Islam in the national education system, coming at a cost of the type kind of education required in an increasingly challenging world”, Mahathir added.

The 95-year-old said the current system makes it appear as if almost every pupil would be an ulama when schools should be focusing on technology and science instead.

Goodbye, Malaysia!!

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