Maszlee Urges Schools To Spice Up BM Lessons By Showing P. Ramlee Movies To Pupils
"(Competency) should not be measured just on examinations."
By Andrea Tang — 03 Oct 2018, 12:30 PM
Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik urges Chinese schools to show Malay movies and cartoons to their pupils yesterday, 2 October at the Raising Bahasa Melayu Standards for Chinese vernacular schools (SJKC) Forum 2018
According to The Star, Dr Maszlee explained that showing P. Ramlee movies and the popular cartoon series Upin & Ipin could make learning Bahasa Malaysia more interesting to Chinese pupils.
He proposed that the idea could be implemented as part of BM programmes in Chinese schools nationwide.
Dr Maszlee added that most of the younger generation has not seen a single P. Ramlee movie
According to the Malay Mail, Malay films like those of P. Ramlee's could be used as reference for students to master Bahasa Malaysia as they appeal to all races and ethnicities.
Speaking at a national forum focused on improving BM in vernacular schools, Dr Maszlee also said that academic competency "should not be measured based on examinations"
"A student can score well in examinations just by memorising, but language is the soul of the nation," he said during his speech at the forum, adding that the focus should be on the enjoyment of using the language.
Dr Maszlee has personally promised to improve the proficiency of the national language among minorities
Poor BM proficiency among minorities has always been a known issue and some have even claimed that having a poor command of the national language is a "sign of disloyalty" towards the country, as reported by Malay Mail.
Therefore, the Pakatan Harapan government has since made BM an important aspect of its education policies.