Cross-Cultural Education Should Be Enphasised In School - M'sian DPM

BAGAN DATOH (Perak), Feb 6 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Saturday proposed for basic cross-cultural education to be emphasised in Malaysia's school curriculum to foster unity among the multi-racial people in the country, which seemed to be increasingly separated. "I call for this because...there is no cross-cultural education being applied in school curriculum right from pre-school or kindergarten. "(It seems like) unity is no longer a priority and only a little disagreement or differences separate one race further from the others," he said after launching 64th Anniversary Carnival of a high school Sekolah Menengah eKebangsaan (SMK) Khir Johari here Saturday. He said the cross-culture education should be given priority so that all races could understand the culture and language of other races. "It cannot be simply done through rhetorical speeches or debates, but should be implemented in a direct assimilation through the education system," he said. When asked on his concern over the declining level of solidarity in the country, the deputy prime minister said apart from foreign factors, the lack of cross-cultural education in vernacular and religious schools had also contributed to the situation. "As such, I hope that my view can be further studied and discussed by academicians. "Nevertheless, I would like to emphasise that I do not propose for the abolishment of national-type Chinese or Tamil schools, I just put the emphasise on cross-cultural education," he said. Ahmad Zahid said that although efforts must be taken to strengthen solidarity, the solidarity should come naturally and not superficially. -- BERNAMA