Stop closing non-Muslim religious clubs in school

By Patrick Lee - Free Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR: Several religious bodies have come together to protest against the “directives” purportedly issued by the Education Ministry to dissolve non-Muslim religious socities in schools.

At a press conference organised by MCA at the party headquarters here, the groups alleged that school authorities have ordered the closure of many such societies.

And according to a former teacher, this has been going on for years.

Yap Kun Han, who described it as a “serious problem”, said: "In my 31 years of teaching experience, there have been quite a number of such cases."

"In 1998, I was told to close the Christian Fellowship in my school (Bukit Bintang Boys School in Petaling Jaya), but I did not," she said, adding that the directive was reversed several weeks later.

Yap also claimed that apart from the efforts to close down non-Muslim religious societies, there were also cases of teachers affiliated with these societies being transferred.

“This definitely happened during the 70s and the 80s,” she said, adding that many teachers during this period were transferred out of their schools “without any apparent reason”.

MCA central committee member Loh Seng Kok said these were not isolated cases and therefore urged the government not to approach them as such.

“We want the government to resolve this issue, and settle it once and for all,” he added.

Spiritual knowledge

Loh also confirmed that while the MCA presidential council had discussed the issue earlier this year, there was no response from the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) executive secretary Tan Kong Beng said the issue was brought to MCA's attention last year.

"After several rounds of inquiries, no action has been taken. The ministry's website says one thing, but then they (the school authorities) do another.

"When schools do not allow students to form these societies, the schools are curtailing the students' development. Through these (societies), students will gain more than just spiritual knowledge, but also learn management skills as well.”

Tan also said that some parents and teachers were afraid of coming out in the open over this issue because they feared reprisals.

“They (school authorities) have deliberately made life difficult for teachers. Some (of these societies) are so small. We are no threat to anyone, so why is there this fear? What is their agenda?”

“Some heads of schools do not deserve to be in charge.”

Loh said the Guidebook for the Management of School Co-Curriculum (issued by the Ministry of Education) encouraged student co-curriculum as it helped to develop not only their physical and intellectual, but also their spiritual abilities.

Also present at the press conference were representatives from various religious organizations including the National Evagelical Christian Fellowship and the Subang Jaya Buddhist Association.