Deputy Education Minister Chong Sin Woon said that the time has come to review the use of too many workbooks in Chinese vernacular schools, The Star Online reported.
“Do we really need these workbooks? The bags are really too heavy and the children can’t carry them.
“You don’t see this in national or Tamil schools,” he was quoted as saying.
According to the report, Chinese primary school students, especially in the cities, have an average of three workbooks per subject and some of their bags can weigh a whopping 10kg each.
In order to address this, the ministry has had meetings with the National Union of Heads of Schools.
Many schools still rely on workbooks, despite the KSSR (Primary School Standard Curriculum) syllabus requiring the use of creative teaching aids to promote high-order thinking and innovation among pupils, the daily reported.
Chong was speaking to reporters after opening a symposium titled “A revolution on teaching”, organised by the Malaysian Chinese Language Council (MCLC) – during which the possible impact on Chinese schools from the Dual Language Programme to teach Science and Maths in English and Chinese, was also discussed.