THE Islamic Education subject must be retained and strengthened in national schools as the current generation are getting exposed to various disciplinary issue and moral degradation, said Ikatan Guru-guru Muslims Malaysia (i-Guru).
“The threats of moral decadence and liberal thinking can affect our students’ faith. As such, i-Guru believes that the Islamic Education subject must be improved at the primary school level itself.
“We should include practical lessons, apart from theory, memorising and recital. This is because pupils are currently only allocated six time slots a week (three hours) which is insufficient to build their character,” Harakah Daily reported its president Mohd Azizee Hasan as saying.
In recent weeks, parents have taken to social media to bemoan that too much time was being allocated for Islamic Education and other subjects related to it.
Several netizens have also expressed concern over it, stressing that Science and Mathematics are also “part of religion”.
“Reducing time for Islamic Education doesn’t mean one has become a liberal. It’s just not suitable for young children.
“Youngsters should be taught critical thinking, not dogmas that merely stress on following things blindly,” said user Sofian Alias.
Dismissing Twitterati concerns, Azizee urged the Government to establish a committee to revamp Islamic Education so that it can encourage them to master other fields of knowledge to meet challenges brought by Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0).
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He added that such dynamic students would be able to master the skills needed for future economic needs, without sacrificing their religious foundation.
On that, Azizee reminded naysayers that Education Ordinance 1952 have enshrined the right of Muslims to seek religious knowledge, which was strengthened under Education Ordinance 1957 which states that any schools which has a minimum of 15 students must be provided with religious education.
“Hence, i-Guru rejects any calls to reduce or abolish Islamic Education subject in schools as it can be prejudicial towards it, on top of creating a negative perception.
“And we reiterate the need for our national schools to become everyone’s choice, which is established based on the provisions under the Federal Constitution,” Azizee remarked. – Jan 15, 2022.
