The Malayan Christian Schools’ Council (MCSC) has an important role to play in our society today. It seeks to carry on the invaluable contributions that mission schools made to our nation in the past and can still make today and in the future.

One of these legacies is the teaching of Bible Knowledge (BK) in our schools. MCSC wants to see more students taking this paper in the SPM. In the 1960’s students taking the paper at Form 3 and Form 5 levels numbered in the thousands. They dwindled to 200-300 in 1993 for the SPM. In 1995 Bible Knowledge was reinstated as a SPM subject with only 20 candidates. Numbers have slowly risen again and there were about 600 candidates in 2005. It is the goal of the Council to have 3000 candidates taking the paper by 2010.

To this end MCSC is working to promote Bible Knowledge to churches and Christian parents. But part of this effort also requires having enough instructors able to teach the subject.

So it was on 17 June 2006, 135 participants (teachers, parents and church leaders) attended a very important seminar at Wesley Methodist Church, Kuala Lumpur. This seminar on teaching Bible Knowledge for SPM was conducted by Ms Moey Yoke Lai, the CEO of Methodist College Kuala Lumpur, who has been teaching the subject for the last 33 years.

Why should Christian students take BK?

Ms Moey gave the following reasons:
1. Christian students need to know God's Word as well as, if not better than, their other academic subjects;
2. Taking BK is an investment of time for eternity;
3. BK is the anchor that our students need in these times of turmoil;
4. BK will undergird the minds of our students and provide them with a moral compass to guide all their actions and decisions in everyday living;
5. The Church in Malaysia needs strong leaders and Christian leaders are grown, not born;
6. Taking BK will help improve the students' command of the English language; and
7. Taking BK is a testimony to our teachers, school administrators and government officials that our Christian faith means something to us.

The half-day seminar was greatly encouraging to many. New, interesting, creative ways of teaching the subject were taught to the participants. Rachel Tan from Klang has this to say, “I am amazed at all the things we can do for the children; all the lessons we can teach them - knowledge of the Bible, moral values, and even History, Geography and ENGLISH!”

Others saw the spiritual as well as the academic value. “BK can encourage youths to draw near to God and help them to get an extra ‘A’ in th SPM. I am looking forward to start teaching BK,” said M. Anthonysamy of Seremban.

A parent and a church leader saw this as a means for his children and youths to be grounded in the Word. Rev. Elijan Bala enthused, “I have been encouraged to encourage my church members . . . to encourage their children to do BK in SPM!”

If the number of candidates for the paper is not sufficiently large, there is always the risk that the authorities will withdraw the subject by giving the reason that it is not economically feasible. The total number of SPM candidates in 2005 was over 438,000. The 600 who took BK was a mere 0.13% of the total candidature. Besides getting sufficient numbers to maintain the subject it will also mean that more lives will be touched by the Word of God.

The SPM Bible Knowledge paper is a wonderful opportunity to teach about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Parents can encourage their children to take it. Churches can consider providing instructors for their youth. This requires more teachers and others who desire to teach to be available. This is an opportunity to make an impact in students’ lives that should not be missed.

Christopher Cheah

SPM Bible Knowledge 9221/1

The syllabus for the paper has two sections:
(1) The life and teaching of Jesus Christ based on the Gospel of Luke and
(2) The growth of the Early Church based on the Acts of the Apostles.

It requires a minimum of two hours of instruction per week over two years. From 2007 the standard text will be the Good News Version that is in contemporary English. Candidates are required to sit for only one paper of two and a half hours duration. The paper is in English.

There are more than adequate resource materials for students taking the paper, including a local textbook that is specially written for the subject, with details of past year questions and model answers. These materials are available from:

1. Malayan Christian Schools’ Council
Tel: 03-7956 5310
Fax: 03-7958 3346
E-mail: edumeth@streamyx.com

2. Teachers’ Christian Fellowship (TCF)
Tel/Fax: 03-5637 5623
E-mail: tcfmy@pd.jaring.my

In addition, the TCF has VCD sets on The Teaching of BK (at RM35, inclusive of postage), excellent for those who want to know how to teach the subject.

For further inquiries regarding BK centres (where BK classes are held), please contact:

Mrs Kua Kun Han
Tel: 03-7876 5897 (H)
E-mail: mk964@pd.jaring.my

MCSC (Ms Elizabeth)
Tel: 03-7956 5310 (O)
E-mail: edumeth@streamyx.com

TCF (Ms Goh Hai Fong)
Tel: 03-5637 5623 (O)
E-mail: tcfmy@pd.jaring.my

Scripture Union (Ms Runa Wan)
Tel: 03-7782 9592 (O)
E-mail: runawan@su.org.my