KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 ― Jawi lessons that will proceed for Standard Four, Five and Six next year will only include three pages which will educate pupils on the scriptures that is inscribed on everyday items and national heritage, said Ministry of Education (MoE) deputy director-general Habibah Abdul Rahim.
Habibah said the lessons which include only three pages for each year will teach students about Malaysia’s heritage through the meaning of the jawi scripture on everyday items such as bank notes and stamps.
“The summary of what we will see next year [for Standard Four] within three pages are stamps, Bank Notes and the national seal which contains the “Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu” wording so that the students, future generations of citizens would understand that this is an art and a national heritage and why it is implemented,” she said at the Jawi Forum: Mutual Understanding, organised by Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese assembly hall here yesterday.
Habibah explained that the introduction of jawi into the education syllabus was to promote Bahasa Malaysia’s artistic beauty compared to its Romanised version.
Habibah added that for Standard Five students, they will learn about the national monument, road signs and the word “halal” while for Standard Six, students will learn on Hari Raya greeting cards, university signs and historical artefacts.
Habibah also said that the introduction of jawi is merely to instil an appreciation of the language as a national heritage and that MoE has no intention of replacing romanised Bahasa Malaysia with the scripture.
“A long time ago Bahasa Malaysia was in jawi but now people are more familiar with the Romanised version. We are not going backwards but only to raise awareness on our heritage that we had used in the past,” she said.
