Palestine Solidarity Week: test of wisdom, adaptability for Chinese primary schools

PETALING JAYA – It is a test of wisdom and adaptability for Chinese primary school headmasters following the Education Ministry’s (MoE) directive to organise events for Palestine Solidarity Week.

According to reports in MySinchew, the headmasters found themselves in a Catch-22 situation, having to deal with the directive and parents who opposed such events.

“We have to submit a report on the events carried out while we also need to find a way to avoid aggravating the parents,” said the headmasters when contacted by Sin Chew.

A headmaster in Penang said he opted to introduce a special topic to promote world peace in his moral class as a solution.

He cited World Wars 1 and 2 as examples to get across the message of brutality during wars and the importance of social harmony.

Another headmaster from a school in Manjung, Perak said he stressed the importance of peace and the mass destruction caused by wars during the school assembly.

“We highlighted to them (students) about global peace, love and care, while Muslim students performed prayers led by religious teachers.

“We will submit photographs of these activities to the MoE for our Palestine Solidarity Week,” he said.

The solidarity week is happening from October 29 to November 3 and involves all educational institutions under the Education Ministry, including schools, vocational and matriculation colleges as well as teacher training institutes nationwide.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that students are encouraged but not forced to learn about the Israel-Palestine conflict and that there were guidelines to comply with at schools.

According to Sin Chew, SJKC Sungei Way in Petaling Jaya was prompted to cancel the event following opposition from parents, who threatened not to send their children to school for the events.

Following this, the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) president Tan Sri Goh Tian Chuan urged schools, in particular primary schools, to cancel their proposed events with immediate effect.

As the government said it was not mandatory, coupled with the absence of updated guidelines, Goh said schools should avoid organising such events.

“Major international conflicts, religious disputes and sovereignty issues are too heavy and too remote for primary school students and are not urgent for them to comprehend,” he justified.

Instead, Goh proposed that cultivating patriotism would be a more suitable focus for primary school students.

He added that this is especially so since some of the activities carried out by certain schools were inappropriate and not in line with the event’s objectives. – The Vibes, November 1, 2023