Its vice-president Mahfuz Omar said the government’s intention was viewed as efforts to revitalise khat or jawi writing and to ensure that students are not missing out on the beautiful art form.

“For me, there shouldn’t be a problem for khat to be introduced, it is just that sometimes we are bombarded with sentiments as if we want to induce the non-Muslims into Islam, which is not true because it is a very beautiful art of writing.

“Not only jawi writing, other types (of writings) including Chinese calligraphy can also be highlighted as it relates to the art of writing that brings good and can be used to generate income,” he told reporters at the Social Security Organisation (Socso) Open Day here today.

Yesterday, the MoE in a statement, said the introduction of khat as part of the Bahasa Melayu subject for Year Four students to be implemented next year will be as planned.

Mahfuz, who is also deputy human resources minister, said he was confident that the MoE would provide an explanation to all parties on the various issues arising from the implementation.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, Mahfuz said his ministry planned to work with the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation to provide single mothers nationwide the opportunity to undergo sewing classes by the agency.

“The ministry is also ready to issue the Malaysian Skills Certification (SKM) to recognise the courses or training provided so that these single mothers can generate their own income from the skills obtained,” he said.