KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5: United Malaysian Hindu Voice (UMHV) strongly has condemned the Education Ministry’s proposal to introduce Malay-Arabic khat calligraphy art, in the Year 4 Bahasa Malaysia curriculum for vernacular schools next year.
Its president J. Prevind said that UMHV is not against the teaching of khat writing, however, vernacular school students should not be forced to learn khat by making it part of the Bahasa Melayu syllabus.
“UMHV would also like to stress that it would be an additional burden to vernacular school teachers and students if khat writing is introduced.
“UMHV also disagrees with the claims that khat writing is necessary to bring unity among Malaysians as students are already learning Bahasa Melayu, which is the national language.
“However, UMHV would like to propose to introduce khat writing as an extracurricular activity rather than a compulsory subject,” he said.
He added that the students and parents must be given the right to choose to learn khat or not.
“UMHV urges the Prime Minister and the Education Ministry to reconsider the decision to introduce khat writing and conduct further studies to provide amicable solution to promote unity among all races in this beautiful multiracial country,” he said.
