Government to introduce creative writing into syllabus
KUALA LUMPUR, DECEMBER 2 - Having realized the need for English from an international perspective, the Education Ministry has decided to embark on a new Creative Writing class for secondary school students. Targeted at Form 4 & 5 students, the syllabus will equip schoolchildren with the necessary writing skills as part of an effort to bolster the local arts and culture scene.
“We really want to push Malaysian students to the next level. The ministry feels that by introducing this subject, we would be able to increase the level of quality in creative writing,” said Datuk Wee Ka Siong, the Deputy Minister of Education.
Earlier this year, the ministry received reports that the majority of tertiary students in the country did not have the proper skills when it came to creative writing. After a task force was formed to investigate the matter, it was found that these students were not equipped with these principles when they were in secondary school.
“The Creative Writing course will cover both the English and Bahasa Malaysia languages. It will also feature a wide range of topics, including the rules and regulations on how to approach play-writing, screenwriting and prose,” Wee was quoted as saying. “At the end of the day, students who take this course will be expected tell the difference between a screenplay and a stage play, for example. They will also need to recite the works of locally authorized writers and their contributions to the country.”
Expected to be launched nationwide from the beginning of 2010, Creative Writing classes will involve a history of local and international creative writing, schools of thought behind the writing itself, as well as the rules and regulations behind creative writing techniques. It will also contain ethics behind creative writing as well as contributions and guidelines from locally-certified writers that have been authorized by the Ministry of Education.
As part of the attempt to familiarize students with the course, the ministry will remove the composition and karangan sections from the Bahasa Inggeris and Bahasa Malaysia subjects respectively, and incorporate them into the Creative Writing course.
However, the deputy minister went on to clarify that students taking the course will not be required to do any creative writing of their own. The government is also in discussion as to whether students will be allowed to write in their spare time.
“We would like to compare the course with learning how to drive, for example. People cannot go for a driving theory course and be expected to drive a car immediately afterwards,” Wee was quoted as saying. “Likewise, we expect that once students will learn the rules and understand the history behind creative writing, they will be able to perform in the tertiary level.”
When pressed on the issue, Wee mentioned that a Writing Writing subject may be introduced into distant future. “We would like to see this as a part of the national syllabus, but we have to consider this as phase two of our Creative Writing course.”
Optionally, students can also take the subject under a separate credit for the SPM examination. Wee has mentioned that a Creative Writing paper involving multiple-choice is already in the works. Some of the sample questions will include: ‘Which of these sentences is an example of creative writing?,’ ‘How many examinations must a Malaysian take before he/she can become a certified practicing writer?’ ‘Name three local creative writers who write with their left hand,’ and ‘What are the five ethical ways to start a screenplay?’
The Education Ministry has also announced that it will also embark on a series of campaigns in the near future to create interest in the Creative Writing subject, including a nationwide exhibition detailing the benefits of learning the rules of creative writing, contests on grammatical structure, and a drawing and painting competition on creative writing.
December 5th, 2009 at 5:04 am
Hmmm! I wonder how this will play out. Will the government be creating the very writers who will creatively write about how to bring the government down or do they want to create un-creatively creative writers?