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PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry will continue to use the student edition of the Form Four Bahasa Malaysia novel Pantai Kasih in its syllabus.
Education Ministry deputy director-general (Education Policy and Development) Datuk Seri Khairil Awang said the book could be considered a form of sex education that also teaches students values and lessons.
Khairil explained that a meeting on Jan 28 to discuss the issue agreed that the student version of the novel by Azmah Nordin would continue to be used by Form Four students in Zone Three states – Malacca, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.
“Each novel selected for the schools’ literature component has undergone rigid screening and selection process by a committee comprising people of various races and religions, experts in education, language, literature, religion and many other fields,” he told a press conference at the ministry on the novel here yesterday.
The book sparked controversy when it was allegedly found to contain unsuitable elements for students.
In January, Facebook user Faiez Ali questioned why the book was selected as a literature component for students.
In the post which went viral, he noted that the book included content such as doctors who flirt with nurses and doctors who date other doctors.
He added that students had little to learn from the novel, which pales in comparison to Form Five English literature novels such as Catch Us If You Can andSing to the Dawn.
Khairil explained that this was the second year that the book was being used in the syllabus and that they had not received complaints in their first year.
He said, teenage students were easily exposed to a variety of social issues and that literature could facilitate students towards higher thinking skills, including analysing and evaluating things from a positive and negative aspect.
He cited an example from the novel whereby a character, Raiha, was asked to abort her baby by her husband as the baby was found to have Down Syndrome but she did not do so.
Khairil explained that this was an opportunity for teachers to explain to their students about the ethics and values of the plot.
He added that the novel also contained scientific terms including zigot, autopsy and ultrasound that can help improve students’ vocabulary while contents such as “berenang untuk menemui dan bersenyawa dengan ovum yang sihat lagi subur di dalam rahim Raiha” (swim to meet and fertilise with the healthy and fertile ovum in Raiha’s womb) was a form of teaching the fertilisation process to students that differs from how they are taught in subjects such as biology.
He added that Pantai Kasih’s theme was the perseverance of a woman in facing the many challenges in her life.
