Congress Organisers Repeat Call For Jawi To Be Elective Subject

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Organisers of the National Jawi Congress today said that they do not wish for Jawi to be a mandatory pass subject, but they will leave the final decision on how to make Jawi lessons in primary schools an elective option up to the Education Ministry
NGO Seni Khat Action Team's (Sekat) secretary Arun Doraisamy said the group's role, as organiser of the function that gathered various groups against the government's implementation of Jawi lessons in the Year Four Bahasa Malaysia syllabus, was only to make proposals on the matter
"We are not out to take over the Education Ministry's role
"Maybe the Education Ministry, the minister (Maszlee Malik) or other parties have a better idea... so that's up to the ministry (to decide)," he told a press conference after the conclusion of the congress at a hotel in Petaling Jaya here

"What we know is we don't want Jawi as a mandatory pass subject (Bahasa Malaysia)... that's all," he said when quizzed on the proposal raised by speakers today
The current primary school syllabus does not offer any elective subjects, but activist Siti Kassim (below), who was also present, insisted that the government and Education Ministry have the power to make changes
"They are the government and they can do anything. If they don't have an elective subject now, they can always create an elective subject
"How they implement is really up to them - that's their job!," said Siti who, however, credited the present Harapan administration with being more approachable and amenable to dialogue with their critics, than previous regimes
The Education Ministry has maintained that the three pages of jawi lessons it plans to introduce will not be part of any examination
Arun said the Education Ministry has shown positive signs of being open to further engagement with all stakeholders
"We will advise the Education Ministry on how we can arrival at a solution that is applicable to all parties, including Sabah, Sarawak, Chinese, Indians and Malays," he said
At the same time, Arun (below) cautioned that a dead end to the dialogue could see Sekat and its allied groups seeking a legal recourse to fight for their rights
"If we go to court, it will be a collective case by Sekat and other NGOs
"This is a national issue and we want to have a joint representation in court," he stressed
The question of a possible legal challenge was earlier raised by Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Jawi Teaching Special Committee coordinator Eddie Heng Hong Chai in his speech at the congress
"We want the ministry to hear what’s on our mind. If they still refuse to listen to us and make the necessary changes, then our final recourse is to take action through our legal system
"This is not ultimately what we want. What we hope for is engagement with the Education Ministry, and to reach a consensus. But if that fails, then we will take the matter to court," he said
Sekat hosted the congress with a view to asking the government to review its decision to introduce Jawi in the Bahasa Malaysia syllabus at Chinese and Indian vernacular schools
This will appear in three pages of the Year 4 Bahasa Malaysia textbooks for 2020
At present, the Education Ministry's policy is that this section is optional for vernacular schools, subject to approval from parents and parent-teacher associations
On Friday, Kajang police obtained a court order barring Dong Jiao Zong's event on a similar theme
The call for the congresses also resulted in threatened opposition by Malay NGOs, although today's congress took an unexpected turn when several protesters from the Gelombang Rakyat Malaysia, led by its president actress Ellie Suriati Omar, joined the congress at a special table at the side of the hall. - Mkini

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