Two schools have made Bible Knowledge compulsory — Tangau
TUARAN: Missions schools in Sabah should take steps to get as many of its Christians students to take up Bible Knowledge study.
Upko acting president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau said so far two mission schools - SM St Mary, Sandakan and SM St Peter Telipok - have made Bible Knowledge compulsory for all its Christian students.
He said this when handing over half of the 600 sets of Bible Knowledge textbooks to SM St Peter Telipok here on Friday. Receiving it was Principal Jackson Sigo.
Last month, Tangau handed over 400 sets of the Bible Knowledge textbooks to SM St Mary in Sandakan.
“This is very momentous because we now have more than 1,000 students who will sit for the Bible Knowledge papers as an elective subject in SPM,” said Tangau who is caretaker Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation.
At the moment, he said other mission schools were only offering Bible Knowledge to about 20 - 40 per cent of its students.
“If all the mission schools do this, we will have an unprecedented number of Bible Knowledge students, perhaps numbering up to 5,000 in Sabah alone,” he said, adding that it would be wonderful if all mission schools could emulate the steps taken by SM St Mary Sandakan and SM St Peter Telipok.
The incumbent Tuaran MP said Upko on its part would continue to provide the textbooks, which at the moment are available only in the peninsula, to schools wishing to introduce the Bible Knowledge subject.
On another note, he said Upko was happy that the Barisan Nasional (BN) has included in its 14th General Election manifesto the setting up of a division on non-Muslim affairs in the Prime Minister’s Department.
In this respect, he said Upko proposed that the Sabah government too follows the footstep of the Federal BN government, which would help in ensuring no more problems from the religion point-of-view and to better facilitate assistance to non-Muslim religious bodies.