‘Teach governance, democracy’
BATU PAHAT: Islamic Education teachers should give additional sessions once a month to teach students about the dangers of religious extremism and to explain the country’s system of democracy and governance.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said this additional platform would help students have a clearer and deeper understanding of the true teachings of Islam.
“Islamic Education teachers should spend some time teaching their students about how to differentiate the true teachings of the religion from untruth.
“There is no need to change the syllabus of Islamic Education. But efforts should be made to add value to the syllabus.
“This can be done by conducting sessions for students at the upper secondary level to explain the country’s system of democracy, constitutional monarchy and governance.
“These sessions could be done once a month, and, after five months, students will have a better understanding of the matter,” said Mahdzir after an “Aidilfitri Talk With Educators” programme at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia in Parit Raja, here.
Mahdzir was responding to a statement by former Federal Territories mufti Datuk Wan Zahidi Wan Teh, who was quoted by a Malay daily on Thursday.
Wan Zahidi said Muslims in Malaysia should understand the concepts of jihad and loyalty to their leaders to avoid deviating from the true concept of jihad in Islam.
On another matter, Mahdzir said the Education Ministry supported the Health Ministry’s call to carry out vaccination screening starting next month for primary school pupils in light of the recent diphtheria cases.
He said he proposed that vaccinations be conducted at schools for the benefit of the pupils who had yet to undergo vaccinations.
Mahdzir said the Education Ministry had compiled data on the vaccination Education Minister mingling with guests after the ‘Aidilfitri Talk With Educators’ programme at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia in Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, yesterday. Pic by Syarafiq Abd Samad
status of pupils in 7,000 primary and vernacular schools nationwide.
The data would be handed over to the Health Ministry for further action.