In the last few days in Malaysia, the shoe colour of the students becomes the hot topic and discussed by a lot of people. The issue was raised because The Ministry of Education Maszlee Malik states the student will be allowed to wear black shoes to the school starting next year session.
“Many parents have been complaining to me and asking the rule that students have to wear white shoes be abolished. All right, then starting from next year, students will wear black shoes and not white anymore,” Maszlee said as quoted by Sinar Harian (Jul 19).
He said the regulation was part of the reforms carried out by the ministry to ensure that national schools were re-choice parents sending their children to study.
As the decision by the Education Ministry to implement the ruling on switching from white to black school will affect over 5 million students, many Malaysians have weighed in on the issue, including educationists and local artists joining in the online conversation over black or white school shoes.
Some agree with the new rules that will be implemented and some also give the opposite opinion. Teacher and parent seem to support this government’s move. National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) President Kamarozaman Abdul Razak said that there are some schools that are already using black shoes, particularly in Form Six and boarding schools.
“There will be many positive impacts, among them, parents will no longer have to purchase cleaning items for the shoes (kapur kasut). Teachers no longer need to enforce discipline on shoe cleanliness. This might also curb a little truancy as there are students who refuse to go to school because they have dirty shoes,” said Kamarozaman as quoted by Malay Mail.
On the contrary, popular comedian and actor Farouk Hussain questioned whether the law would be a wise decision. He said it is less accurate if the rules are created because of the parents' wishes.
"If it caused by the fast-dirty white shoes, then the children should be disciplined themselves to wash. This is part of training in hygiene. Also, it trains a person to be responsible from a little further, this is part of the formation of morals and discipline," he wrote on his social media.
There was also a fair share of sarcastic comments thanking the minister and questioning if the colour of school shoes was more important than instilling proper discipline, lightening heavy schoolbags, mounting Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN) loans and even the government's recognition of the controversial Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).
Sources: Sinar Harian, malaymail.com, malaysiandigest.com, bernama.com