KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 ― Primary school teacher Muhammad Nazmi Rosli stood in as a temporary Islamic Education (Pendidikan Islam) teacher in April as there was no teacher for the subject at the time.
Instead of following the set syllabus, the 29-year-old, who teaches English at SK Luagan in Lawas, Sarawak, decided to take it one step ahead.
Speaking to Malay Mail, Nazmi said the lesson involved teaching Year Four pupils how to clean themselves after they accidentally touched a dog.
“But I decided to expand on the topic further and included how to be kind to animals that are considered haram in Islam.”
Nazmi, who has been a teacher since 2017, said he decided to add the extra lessons as he wanted to change Muslims perception about animals considered haram due to his previous encounters.
The Senior Assistant said the first incident occurred when he was a trainee teacher in 2014 where he wanted to organise an event at a longhouse in Miri.
“I had trouble getting participation from the residents as they refused to come out. The reason they gave was that there were many dogs in the area where the event was held.”
The more recent encounter was during the enforcement of the movement control order and pupils were required to attend their lessons online.
“We had trouble sending materials to some pupils as there were dogs at their homes.”
Since then, Nazmi told himself he wants to change the people's perception.
“And what better way than through education. By teaching my pupils, I hope they will go back and teach their parents too.”
Nazmi, who uploaded his teaching onto his Facebook, said his superiors were supportive of his teaching.
The teacher even included a plush puppy and a toy doghouse that he purchased to illustrate his point.
“The Education Ministry always encourages teachers to be creative in their teaching so students can be creative too,” he said.
Nazmi added that he did not expect his Facebook post to get the attention of social media users.
“I shared the post for the benefit of my fellow colleagues in the hopes that it would give them ideas when teaching,” said Nazmi, who has 18,523 followers on his Facebook.
