Religious Education for Hindus @ N.S. Rajendran Blog

Religious Education for Hindus

Posted on December 4th, 2009 nsrajendran 185 comments

Religious Education for Hindus in Malaysia

John Dewey, without doubt, is one of the educators in the United States who has left significant marks in the American school of thought and those marks are still obvious in the American Education System. He said that, Education is life itself. Many now seem to take education for making a living, when education is life itself. Swami Vivekananda reminded everyone that education is a light that shows the mankind the right direction to surge. The purpose of education is not just making a child literate. Education adds rationality to ones thinking, makes one knowledgeable and self sufficient. If education fails to inculcate self-discipline and commitment to achieve in the minds of children, it is not their fault.

The great teacher Thiruvalluar, who has been paid tribute by many including Gandhi who said, “I wanted to learn Tamil only to enable me to study Valluvar’s Thirukkural through his mother tongue itself. Only a few us know the name of Thiruvalluvar. There is none who has given such a treasure of wisdom like him”, and 1952 Nobel Price winner Albert Schweitzer who said, “There hardly exists in the literature of the world a collection of maxims in which we find such lofty wisdom”, said 2035 years ago, “What Profit have those derived from learning, who worship not the good feet of Him who is possessed of pure knowledge?”.

In Malaysia, we have the National Philosophy of Education (NPE) since 1988 which is used as the guide to formulate curriculum from pre-school to tertiary education. The NPE requires the education system to produce Malaysians who are balanced individuals who possess intellectual, psychomotor, emotional and spiritual capacities. It is the belief that only when one is balanced in all four aspects, one will be an individual who will be knowledgeable, active, emotionally balanced with high moral and spiritual values. This is, no doubt, in line with what great scholars like Dewey, Vivekananda and Thiruvalluvar have said.

But, unfortunately religious education is not taught to students in Malaysian schools, except for Islam, the official religion, to Muslim students. This has been the policy in Malaysian schools since independence. It seems that the time has come to evaluate our education system when we claim that our NPE is the guide to all curricula used in Malaysia starting from pre-school to tertiary level. The NPE is clear in its focus to produce balanced individuals of Malaysians in all four aspects. The reality, however, is that about 40 per cent of the new generation of Malaysians do not receive education in one of the four aspects, that is, in the spiritual component. It is not difficult to imagine the effects of this practice.

In the Indian community, the crime rate among Indian youth has been increasing for the last few years. It has become the serious concern of the community. Every time news is published in the Tamil Newspapers about crime, the community becomes concerned, talk about it, and of course quickly forget about it. After all, we all have short memory and are busy with our own things. Very little is done by the community to tackle this issue. The question is what needs to be done.

One strategy which most agree will make a significant difference in the systematic and comprehensive Hindu Religious Education provided to Indian children from young. It has to be continuous and systematic. It also has to be developmental. It certainly cannot be a one-off session which may not leave any positive impact in children. Now, what needs to be done? Well, there has to be a syllabus, resource book for teachers, text-books, training for teachers and implementation in schools. If we have all these, can religious education take place in schools?

The government, of course, even as early as 1975, has given permission to Malaysian Hindus to teach Hinduism to Hindu students provided it does not use public funds, is conducted outside of school hours, taught only to Hindus, and more importantly after obtaining permission from the respective school principals. What this means is that the preparation of the syllabus, resource book for teachers, text-books, training for teachers and implementation in schools are all the responsibilities of the community.

The next question is did any individual or organization try in the past. Yes. Malaysia Hindudharma Mamandram and Malaysia Hindu Sangam as organizations, and numerous individuals have made attempts. Malaysia Hindudharma Mamandram (MHDM), even as early as 1999, prepared a syllabus, resource book for teachers, text-book, prarthanai paamalai (collection of religious hymns) and trained about 1000 Tamil school teachers nationwide to help implement this in schools.

Well, since MHDM is a voluntary organization with limited funding, MHDM was not able to continue doing this good project in schools. It was not easy sustaining the interest and enthusiasm of teachers in schools. The teaching of Hindu religious education is still on in schools where there are interested and committed teachers and headmasters. By any count, vast majority of Hindu children do not receive exposure to Hindu religion.

The other question often raised is, without doubt, why aren’t the Hindu temples doing this? Well, this is a one-million dollar question which is often asked but not often addressed fully. I intend to address this important issue another time.

So, because of the situation the community is in and the ever increasing social problems in the community, MHDM has been requesting the government to provide religious education to all Malaysians according to their faiths. This is certainly in line with the requirements of the National Philosophy of Education. This is not something unthinkable. Malaysia has been credited many times for being unique in many aspects. Measure to teach religious education to all Malaysians in line with NPE will add another feather to the already colorful cap, that is our beloved Malaysia.

Below is the call MHDM made to the government in 2003 to introduce Hindu religious education to Hindu students (NST, July 2003).

KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysia Hindudharma Mamandram has sought the help of MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu to convey to the Government its proposal that religious education classes on major religions be introduced in national schools.

The association made its request known at its 21st delegates conference here today, which was opened by Samy Vellu, who is also the Works Minister.

Its president Dr N.S. Rajendran said students in national and secondary schools should have religious education similar to that taught to students in Tamil schools nationwide.

He said it had been conducting religious educational programmes in Tamil schools throughout the country since 1999.

Samy Vellu, in his speech, said it was essential for all children to begin receiving religious education and guidance at an early age.

Encouraging the community to be proactive, he proposed the setting up of a Malaysia Consultative Council for Hinduism to look into the needs of Hindus and the religion.

“Our main concern is Hindu temples. It is sad to note that many temples have been built haphazardly with no proper management. In one square mile, we can see as many as four or five Hindu temples,” he said.

He said the problem had been exacerbated by indiscriminate building on government land without permission and other unsuitable places, and that many of these temples would be demolished soon.

He said he had, at the recent Malaysia Hindu Sangam’s annual general meeting, proposed a solution to the problem which would ensure better care, management and protection for Hindu temples and religion.

He added that co-ordination among Hindu organisations was vital if they were to undertake this effort.

He said future courses and activities organised by Hindu-based organisations should take into account not just the religious aspect, but also the economic and social problems faced by Hindus in Malaysia.

Source: New Straits Times – July 07, 2003

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Veena March 6th, 2011 at 12:22

A good article. My view on your question:

“The other question often raised is, without doubt, why aren’t the Hindu temples doing this?”

Hindu temples are manned by priests/”gurukkals” who are more often than not busy performing “archanas”/”poojas” etc in return for money when the temple is open to the public for prayers. During other times, these priests cannot even be found in the temple premises as they would be busy performing other rituals elsewhere, again to earn extra income (the reason being that they are not paid well). Some temples keep on having various homams, poojas etc etc on the pretext of raising funds for the temples. Hence, priests are often busy carrying out all these chores. I’ve noticed in certain temples, “arcahanas” and “aartis” being carried out longer when then is an “extra fee” given to the priest much to the chagrin of other worshippers who may not be able to afford thie kind of money.

It is important to note that we cannot simply engage the services of anyone from the temple to educate the youth. We obviously need priests (who are suppose to have knowledge and wisdom in Hinduism)to impart their knowledge to the youth. How can these priests have time to conduct classes for the youth when they are ever so busy with all their chores (inside and outside the temple)? Will they be paid to conduct these classes? Will priests agree to convey their knowledge for free as part of their social responsibility to the community?

I think the above needs to be addressed first before we can even consider engaging the Hindu temples for purposes of educating the youth on Hinduism.
Shamala Ramasamy October 23rd, 2011 at 12:05

I strongly believe in instilling Hinduism knowledge not only among the youngsters but also the adults. Hinduism is a complex religion. Hence, many people are leaving this beautiful old religion in order to seek a new path. We do not own an ‘All-In-One’ book to disseminate the knowledge. Since, we do not have the knowledge of our own religion, most vultures in the name of Gurus, priests and astrologers are just waiting for preys in temples or meditation centers to con the ever gullible Malaysian Hindus. I personally do through books and websites to learn about this religion. Trust me, even the priests in temples do not know whatever that I know. At times I take the effort to educate them, but I may not be very right. So, I suggest the knowledgeable university Tamil / Religious professors who have gained formal knowledge in Hinduism to propagate this religion asap before it dies.