Distorted History Curriculum And Spillover Impact on Social Iitegration

There is a need to return to the core of History Education. This is understanding that history is there to teach us to respect for diversity and good governance.
The announcement of Malaysia as an Islamic country in 2001 (Patricia A. Martinez, 2001) , and the revamp in the History curriculum thereafter, including the emphasis on Islamic values in learning institutions as well as turning Islamic teaching into a subject in schools, has led to distortion of the mindset of students. This is done by instilling the ideology of the supremacy of the ONE race, one religion at the cost of marginalising the contribution of the minority ethnic in nation building.
By distorting the facts in the History textbook, indoctrinating a warped view of the world and taking out the connecting facts of the global perspective is detrimental to understanding diversity and good governance. Curricular manipulation creates mistrust, impedes social integration and impacting the competitiveness (“daya saing”) of that ethnic group.
This impact is witnessed when principals engage in hate speech and abusive behavior during assembly against students from the minority ethnic groups. It is also well reflected in the acts of rightwing NGOs and Youth Wings of the political parties to seek court injunctions to close the vernacular schools in the country. More concerning is the trend of increased homogeneity of student enrolment in SK and SMK schools. Alongside this, there is a sharp dip in minority ethnic student enrolment in these schools, especially during the Covid-19 lock down.