SIBU: Students nowadays have too many subjects to cope with and introducing any additional subject could burden both them and their teachers.
In highlighting this, Sarawak Teachers Union (STU) president Jisin Nyud believed that such move could present some financial implications to schools.
His remarks referred to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry’s plan to introduce environmental education as a subject at school.
Its minister Dato Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar reportedly said his ministry would hold discussions with the Education Ministry on the proposal.
To this, Jisin said: “In fact, environmental education has been introduced to students via co-curricular activities such as during environmental club meetings, with the help of other agencies.
“Besides schools, environmental education should also start at home and with the community itself because it has something to do with the students’ attitude towards the environment and nature.
“In fact, our environment is everyone’s responsibility.”
As such, Jisin said STU did not agree with the plan to introduce environmental education as a subject at school, in that it (environmental education) had already been integrated into existing subjects such as Bahasa Melayu, English, Moral Studies and other science-based subjects.
Jisin said adding this subject on top existing core, compulsory and additional subjects would lead to schools having to teach too many subjects in classrooms.
“If we are going to add one more subject such as environmental education, then there would be financial implications.
“Additionally, students will be burdened by a subject that is not supposed to be taught separately,” Jisin opined.