'Federal Govt should have consulted Sabah on khat'

By Olivia Miwil - August 5, 2019 @ 3:22pm

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah hopes that the Federal Government will consult with the state before implementing policies on education.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew said the Education Ministry should have discussed the implementation of khat next year with Sabah.

She said this was because it would affect the people who came from many different ethnic backgrounds.

“The federal ministry should know that any policy related to education would affect the state.

“Therefore, they should have let the Sabah Education Ministry have a say on the matter”.

Liew who is also the Sabah PKR chief said the subject should be made optional rather than mandatory.

The Education Ministry in a statement last Friday said that khat (a form of Malay-Arabic calligraphy) would be included in the Bahasa Melayu subject for Year Four pupils from next year.

Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik had stated that schoolchildren would not be tested on their khat writing skills during examinations.