KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 — Incumbent education minister Datuk Radzi Jidin yesterday reportedly told critics not to take advantage of the situation caused by the Cikgu Fadli controversy.
He told reporters at the launch of an event yesterday that politics should be separated from education, according to a report by The Star.
"Some politicians are taking advantage of the situation and politicising the issue of the school syllabus,” he was quoted as saying, adding that the current syllabus was adopted in 2017.
He reportedly said: "This is not a Radzi Jidin syllabus. It takes time to develop an education syllabus and we take into consideration views from teachers and schools."
He was referring to Mohd Fadli Mohd Salleh, popularly known as Cikgu Fadli, who claimed to have identified several weaknesses in the Malaysian education system and went viral on social media.
The education syllabus cannot be changed frequently lest it inconveniences both teachers and students, Radzi reportedly said.
"Our approach is to review the syllabus after its cycle has ended.
"This means that Year One pupils who started using this syllabus in 2017 will complete one cycle when they enter Year Six,” he was quoted as saying.
The practice of the ministry is to review the syllabus again only after the cycle is complete, he reportedly added.
Yesterday, Bernama reported that Mohd Fadli had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Education Ministry.
Mohd Fadli, a Mathematics teacher at Sekolah Kebangsaan (1) Gombak, had aired his grievances on social media with several issues he had identified in the Malaysian education system, which went viral.
He said that the Math syllabus was too advanced for primary school students, there were too many students in one class, the students learnt too many subjects, and heavy schoolbags were threatening the development of young students.
He claimed that he had initially gone through the proper channels with his complaints, but no action was taken.
