CHINESE primary schools in Penang will not introduce Jawi script to Year Four pupils this year.
According to a report in Sin Chew Daily today, apart from SJK (C) Yang Cheng, which has an equal number of Chinese and non-Chinese Year Four pupils and which saw “ayes” and “nays” tied in a questionnaire survey, all 89 schools surveyed said “no” to Jawi script in the Bahasa Malayu (BM) syllabus.
Another school, SJK (C) Kuang Yu, was not given the questionnaire on Jawi script because it does not have Year Four pupils this year.
Penang Island and Seberang Perai Chinese School Boards Federation president Lee Tian Lin told Sin Chew the survey clearly showed that Chinese schools in the state were not agreeable to the introduction of Jawi script in Year Four.
He urged the government to rescind its decision on the teaching of Jawi in Year Four so that vernacular schools will not be subjected to the questionnaire survey again.
Lee said in the case of SJK (C) Yang Cheng, although the school returned an equal number of “ayes” and “nays” in the questionnaire, its parent-teacher association decided against having Jawi for pupils in Year Four.
Meanwhile, United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong) president Tan Tai Kim, who is also Johor Dong Lian Hui (Chinese school committees association), told the Chinese daily that all of the 206 Chinese primary schools in Johor which had returned the questionnaire, so far, are against the Jawi script move.
He hoped the remaining 10 schools would take the same stand.
On Jan 2, Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching said Jawi lessons for BM syllabus in vernacular schools could only be introduced with the consent of the majority of parents and PTA.
