PUTRAJAYA, June 8 — A total of 20,293 teachers nationwide will be sent to attend a nation-building course conducted by the National Civics Bureau (BTN) after the Raya festivities, Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said today.
He added that the three-day, two-night course titled “Teachers: The nation’s builders” is to instil the spirit of nation-building among teachers so they can pass along their knowledge to students based on the Rukun Negara, Malaysia’s five fundamental principles.
“The programme is suitable with the duty of a teacher to not only impart knowledge to their students but also to build a nation state that is high in principles.
“This is the start and after Raya we can start the programmes,” he told a news conference after witnessing the inking of a memorandum of understanding between the Education Ministry and BTN.
Mahdzir said both primary and secondary school teachers with four to five years’ experience will be selected to undergo the programme.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said was also present and said the joint venture with the Education Ministry was part of BTN’s “rebranding” programme.
“We don’t want the perception that BTN is a racist organisation,” she said.
BTN is an agency under the Prime Minister’s Department established in 1974 and tasked with promoting patriotism but has drawn criticism for allegedly spreading racism.
Despite denials by the government and the agency, sporadic leaks of closed-door events conducted by the BTN or featuring its staff have continued to entrench suspicions that the bureau is a hotbed of racism and “brainwashing”.
In June last year, a set of slides uploaded on the BTN website titled “Rasis” claimed that racism could have a “good purpose”, but has instead received a “negative connotation” due to certain parties supposedly trying to topple the government.
