Wednesday July 19, 2006
UPM guide for lecturers stays
By SIMRIT KAUR and ZULKIFLI ABDUL RAHMAN
KUALA LUMPUR: The Higher Education Ministry will not withdraw the Ethnic Relations module being used at Universiti Putra Malaysia as it is merely a teaching guide, not an authorised textbook.
“UPM found it necessary to come up with a guide as this compulsory course involved thousands of students,” Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
“It is not a ‘book’ in the real sense as it did not go through the editing process that a textbook would undergo.”
He said the ministry was preparing standardised and detailed guidelines and a textbook to be used by all public universities. The textbook produced by the ministry will be titled Basic Concept of Ethnic Relations.
However, Mustapa said, there was no need for UPM to withdraw its teaching guide or for the Ethnic Relations subject to be abolished.
“UPM has been asked to ensure that they reflect the standardised guidelines being prepared by the ministry,” he added.
A module with guidelines for the new subject was drafted in December last year.
“It is at the final stage of editing and is awaiting approval. It should be ready in two to three months’ time,” Mustapa said.
It was prepared by a panel of experts led by Dr Johan Saravanamuthu Abdullah from Universiti Sains Malaysia; Datuk Prof Dr Shamsul Amri Baharudin and Prof Dr Abdul Latif Samian from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia; Prof Dr Azizan Baharuddin and Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Khoo Kay Kim from Universiti Malaya, Prof Dr Jayum Jawan from Universiti Putra Malaysia; and Assoc Prof Musa Ahmad from Universiti Teknologi MARA.
In October 2004, a decision was made to make Ethnic Relations a compulsory subject for all university students beginning with the 2006/2007 academic session.
Currently, the Ethnic Relations subject is not standardised, with each university running the course based on its respective capabilities.
Mustapa also refuted Opposition allegations that the UPM guidelines were historically inaccurate.
He said a typographical error on the propagation of Islam would be corrected. He was referring to Article 11 (4) which was misquoted as “no religion except Islam can be taught or preached to non-Muslims” which should have read Muslims.
“The Suqiu demands in 1999 were extremist as they went against Article 153 of the Federal Constitution on the rights of bumiputras while the DAP’s involvement in rallies during the May 13 incidents is a historical fact, although other political parties were involved.”
He added that the line on “Indians’ anti-social behaviour in the Kampung Medan incident” was taken from a study by Dr Denison Jayasooria presented at a convention in 2003.
Mustapa added dsthe public university students were free to give other views.
“Those who don’t agree (with the guidelines) can debate it during the Ethnic Relations class,” he said.
Related Stories:
Don: Be careful in ethnic relations
Grads claim biasness in other courses
Mustapa’s reply on Kg Medan riots irks MPs
Ong: Textbooks should consider sensitive issues
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