By
Yojana Sharma and Emilia Tan
An
Islamic studies and Asian civilisation course, compulsory for students in
Malaysia’s public universities, will also be mandatory for all private
university students – including those at foreign branch campuses – from 1
September.
Amid
controversy over the course content, Muhyiddin Yassin, Malaysia’s deputy prime
minister and education minister, said the move was intended to “streamline the
requirements” of private and public universities.
Vincenzo
Raimo, director of the international office at the University of Nottingham in
the UK, which has a branch campus in Malaysia, said the subject was being made
compulsory across the board, including at foreign branch campuses.
TITAS,
as the religion and civilisation course is known by its Malaysian acronym, has
sparked considerable debate within the country, particularly among non-Malay
communities.
Critics
have called on the government to make the subject non-compulsory for
non-Muslims; Malaysia has significant Hindu, Chinese Buddhist and Christian
minorities, many of them attending private universities because of restricted
places at public institutions.
Just
over 60% of Malaysians consider themselves to be Muslim, according to official
census figures.
Consultations
on TITAS have been held with private universities and foreign branch campuses
over the past year. Malaysia hosts eight foreign branch campuses and has just
over 50 private universities and more than 400 private colleges.
In
a written parliamentary reply on 11 July, Yassin said foreign students in
private institutions would also be required to take Malaysian studies and Malay
language courses. At Nottingham University’s campus in Malaysia, three hours a
week will be allocated to the compulsory subjects.
Previously
some students who had already studied TITAS could be exempt. “There are no
exemptions under the new regulations,” Christine Ennew, provost of the
University of Nottingham Malaysia campus, told University World News.
“Like
other institutions in Malaysia, we have been delivering teaching in areas
related to TITAS for some considerable time and already have significant
capacity in this area, but we will need to scale up provision, and this will
have significant cost implications.”
The
subjects already taught at Nottingham’s branch campus include Malaysian
studies, moral or Islamic studies and Bahasa Malaysia, the national language.
“We
delivered these subjects to students as a supplement to the standard
curriculum,” Ennew said, adding that the purpose of the courses was to provide
students with some grounding in the national language, an understanding of the
country’s history, and awareness of religious and moral debates.
But
some academics have said that the use of many Malay terms in the course could
make it particularly difficult for students who do not speak the language.
Controversy
Since
July the issue has become highly emotive, with some critics accusing the
government of ‘creeping Islamisation’ and pandering to Islamist groups that
support the government.
Although
the government’s stated aim is to promote national harmony, critics' concern is
that the focus will be on Islam and that students risk being taught by
religious fanatics with little exposure to other religions.
Islamic
groups in turn accused the critics of being ‘Islamophobic’.
The
Ministry of Education insists the claims that the course contains Islamic
elements and is unsuitable for non-Muslim students are inaccurate. TITAS also
tackles “Malay, Chinese, Indian civilisations as well as civilisations of the
future", the ministry said in a statement.
The
subject is already being taught on a compulsory basis in the Malaysian
provinces of Sabah and Sarawak on the Island of Borneo, where non-Muslims
attained excellent results according to the ministry’s higher education
department Director General Morshidi Sirat, quoted by the official Bernama news
agency.
“It
is about comparative Asian civilisations as well as the good and common
values,” he said.
Member
of parliament Ko Chung Sen, of the multiracial opposition Democratic Action
Party, urged the government to withdraw the compulsory TITAS requirement. He
cited the country’s constitution, which states: “No person shall be required to
receive instructions in or of a religion other than his own.”
“How
would this improve one’s studies to be a doctor, lawyer or engineer? Why would
this be necessary here in Malaysia?” he asked in a press statement last month.
Others
have argued that since TITAS is taught in Malaysia’s primary and secondary
schools, there is little need for it to be mandatory for university students.
Compulsory
vs elective
Gan
Ping Sieu, vice president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, which is part
of the ruling Barisan coalition, said the course should be made elective
instead of compulsory, “as is the practice of top-ranked universities in the
world.
“To
make study of a single religion-civilisation compulsory for non-followers of that
religion-civilisation is a step backward from national harmony. The ministry
should instead introduce the general studies of all major
religions-civilisations in secondary schools to promote better understanding
and goodwill amongst our younger generation.”
Mahaganapathy
Dass, higher education bureau chair of the Malay Indian Congress youth
organisation, said that if the intention was to provide students with some
exposure regarding civilisations, the current focus on one civilisation should
be reduced and more emphasis given to others. A new syllabus should be drawn up
after discussion with academics, experts and teachers, he said.
Making
TITAS compulsory “shows that there is a fear that it won’t be popular in the
first place. Bureaucrats are scared that if a course is initiated and its
undertaking is voluntary, classrooms would be empty save for a dedicated few,”
said Aerie Rahman, a Malaysian student at the School of Oriental and African
Studies, London University, who took TITAS classes while an undergraduate law
student at Malaysia’s Universiti Teknologi MARA.
When
he studied the subject four years ago at the public university, “there was some
Islamic bent”, Rahman told University World News.
Even
if the syllabus has been changed since then for private universities, Rahman
said, “I don’t think it is appropriate for foreign or non-Muslim students, or
even Muslim students. Students at university are not looking for what TITAS is
offering. It is not useful to students, who need skills to secure a job on
graduation.”
TITAS
has been compulsory in public universities since 2006, although marks are not
included in the cumulative grade point average that leads to a degree award.
Education
ministry officials have said private institutions can decide how to assess and
grade students.
“There
is a specified curriculum which indicates the broad areas to be covered. We are
in discussion with the ministry about a range of flexible delivery options and
we are particularly interested to explore integration with other elements of
our curriculum,” Nottingham’s Ennew said.
She
added that the subject was “potentially of value to a ‘global citizen’ because
it will help them understand modern geo-politics and its implications for their
future working career. The skills elements included in the new diet of
compulsory subjects is also one that is relevant to student employability.”
Academics
who spoke on condition that they were not named said it was unlikely the
government would withdraw the course – but there was still some scope for
adjusting the content.