Students attend the first day of school at Sekolah Kebangsaan Silibin in Ipoh January 2, 2019. ― Picture by Farhan Najib

KOTA BARU, May 20 — Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim) has described the Malaysian Youth Council’s (MBM) proposal for a new subject be introduced at primary school to enable pupils to learn about other religions as unsuitable.

However, its president, Nik Omar Nik Aziz said he personally felt that such a proposal should be scrutinised and studied from all angles if it were to be implemented.

“For young pupils, especially Muslims, we should focus on providing Islamic education and strengthening their faith... by exposing them with the basic of Fardhu Ain.

“The proposal is more suitable for those in secondary school or institution or higher education as they will be able understand Islam more, but it is really unsuitable for those in primary school,” he told reporters here last night.

Earlier, the Education Ministry also rejected the proposal. In fact, Minister Maszlee Malik said that he was consistent with the ministry’s previous suggestion that every school and university should organise more cross-cultural programmes.

On Saturday, MBM president Jufitri Joha was reported as saying that the Islamic studies subject currently being taught in schools was good, but it only focused on one religion.

He said his proposal did not mean that the country would practice religious equality, but learning about various religions would “foster unity and promote religious sensitivity for different cultures. — Bernama