Maszlee: Khat decided in 2014, will not be tested or assessed
Under fire for the introduction of khat or Jawi calligraphy for Year 4 pupils in all schools starting next year, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik yesterday pointed out that the move was decided even before Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the government.
According to him, the ma er was decided in 2014, along with the decision that khat would not be tested or assessed.
“The introduction of khat calligraphy was decided during the revision of the curriculum KSSR (Primary School Standards-Based Curriculum) in 2014,” he said.
Maszlee said this in a reply to the question of ‘When was this decision to include khat calligraphy made?’ in a post on his Facebook page, which was wri en as replies to frequently asked questions (FAQ).
The minister also pointed out that the introduction of khat was not confined to national schools but all primary schools, and that a er it is implemented for Year 4 pupils next year, it will be introduced in Year 5 classes in 2021 and Year 6 in 2022.
The move to introduce khat in schools by the PH government, which formed the government following last year’s general election, has been met with criticism from lawmakers as well as vernacular education groups throughout the country.
To the question of ‘What is the purpose of the introduction of khat writing?’, Maszlee said khat serves as an aspect of language arts to enrich students with knowledge on history, art and heritage of Bahasa Malaysia.
“It will take up six out of 164 pages of the new Bahasa Malaysia Year 4 textbook as part of language art activities,” he said.
On whether students could master Jawi through the six pages of the textbook, Maszlee said the implementation of khat calligraphy was not comprehensive learning to master Jawi.
On why non-Malay students are forced to study khat calligraphy, he replied: “The introduction of khat calligraphy is meant as an a empt to enhance the knowledge on history, art and heritage of Bahasa Malaysia, not as a force.
“In addition to this, Jawi script writing has also been taught in SJK (vernacular schools) through Bahasa Malaysia curriculum since 2015. This can be referred to SJK Year 5 (2015 edition) page 85 to 88 under Theme 6: Culture and Nation Appreciation (Unit 17 – The Writing Art).”
To the question of why coding and other such subjects were not taught, he said his ministry introduced coding to primary and secondary students through the revised KSSR and Secondary School StandardsBased Curriculum (KSSM) in 2017.
This involves Level 2 students (Year 4 to 5) in primary school and Form 1 to 3 in secondary school, with the element of coding incorporated within the subject of Technology Design and Computer Science, he added.