NUR AYUNI ZULAIKA BINTI MOHD ZULKIFLEE

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN SCHOOL

 

Today, non-Muslims are no exception to not learning about religious education because, Malaysia, has prepared a specific subject for them which is moral education (Pendidikan Moral) is one of the core subjects in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination. It is a required subject for all non-Muslim students in the public education system in Malaysia meanwhile on the religious for Muslim students are required to take the Islamic Studies (Pendidikan Islam) course. Pendidikan Moral, along with Islamic Studies, is governed by the Department of Islamic and Moral Studies (JAPIM), a branch under the Ministry of Higher Education.

 

The subjects of Moral Education and Islamic Education have been taught in schools to form a young generation that always practices good values in the lives of students. The interest of the subject is to be able to form pure values in life is to form a society that adheres firmly to religious teachings and respects each other where there is no term for cultural differences or religion when seeking knowledge.

 

On the other hand, at the school level, positive moral education and moral values applied by teachers will be able to prevent students from getting caught up in various external negative influences that do not provide any benefits. Also, at school Muslim students learn Pendidikan Islam course about religion and history and only believe in one God meanwhile, the school focuses on non-Muslim moral education so that it can help them form good values in themselves because in Malaysia only Islam is the official religion, and no other religious teachings are taught in schools.

 

This effort is to produce Malaysians who are knowledgeable, skilled, responsible, and capable of achieving personal well-being as well as contributing to the harmony and prosperity of society and the country. However, this subject for Pendidikan Moral requires teachers who have professional knowledge and expertise to carry out the most appropriate instructions and guidance in learning the subjects. Exposing students to texts from different religions can be helpful to student learning when shared in context for the development and advancement of societies.

 

In conclusion, Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) should take seriously and be responsible for the subject of moral education to be made a formal subject during pre-teacher education so that more professional teachers can be born and able to become experts in this subject.

REFERENCES

Pendidikan Moral. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Pendidikan_Moral

A DAY AT CAMPUS

First of all, I would like to share about my non-Muslim friend who is Eng Xi. As most of you already know, my campus has various races because here there are many courses provided for all potential educators, especially in the course of physical education and my friend Eng Xi is one of the students. I like to be a friend of Eng Xi because she is good at respecting other people's religion and she always tries to learn moral education to form a commendable personality.

I want to share about education on my campus which is for Muslim students who are required to take the Islamic Studies (Pendidikan Islam) course while non-Muslims it has prepared a specific subject for them which is moral education (Pendidikan Moral).

In one of my school days which is my batch was responsible to attend a Maulidur Rasul ceremony that was held at the campus level. Already I've noticed the banner and buntings everywhere calling some students to join in the celebration of Maulidur Rasul but students who are not Muslim, are not exempted to get involved where my campus has held a ceremony for them while we attend the Maulidur Rasul ceremony.

For this event, Muslim students are required to dress modestly, as for male students they are required to wear a Baju Melayu while female students are required to wear a Baju Kurung. I asked a non-Muslim friend who is Eng Xi about the clothes they wear when attending a ceremony for moral education, they are also advised to wear appropriate clothing while in the ceremony. Even though she is a non-Muslim student, she tries to respect the ceremony held on campus went well.

The ceremony held was very lively and went smoothly with the presence of famous speakers and the topics of the talks prepared suited us as future teachers. The moral I got from this event's meaning of Maulidur Rasul which is to remember and honour can express both remembrance and joy but we also have to remember to appreciate all the hardship that he and the following have been through to spread and defend Islam.  For the event that my friend, Eng Xi joined for moral education (Pendidikan Moral) she said that she must gain knowledge, be skilled, responsible, and capable of achieving personal well-being as well as contributing to the harmony and prosperity of society and the country.

To conclude, many ways can be done to cultivate these subjects in any campus or school to grow well and no difference can be made.