立國之本,在於教育。教科書作為學校教育的重要元素之一,亦是教育最重要的工具,其內容的色彩與偏向,往往左右學生的思想觀念,影響甚為深遠。1904年,自馬來亞創辦第一所新式學校以來,學校即選用由中國編纂和出版,同為中國學生所採用的教科書。1930年代,中國特地為南洋華僑學生編纂和出版富有南洋色彩的教科書。1930年代中期,教科書逐漸走向由中國編纂、在本地出版的分際運作模式。無論是由中國包辦編纂出版,或由中國編纂、在本地出版的教科書,皆以灌輸中國意識為宗旨。1952年,馬來亞聯合邦教育部接納《方吳報告書》的建議,開始著手重編華校教科書。1950年代,馬來亞朝著自治建國的道路邁進,為了培養華人子弟以馬來亞為效忠國的思想,教科書的編纂注重灌輸本土意識,編纂展現「馬來亞」色彩的教科書。本文將為馬來亞獨立前華文小學華文教科書的編纂與出版進行梳理,從各年代教科書的出版社、特點、思想內容等進行歷時性分析和比較。
Education is the crucible of nation building. Textbook is one of the important elements of school education. It is in fact the most important educational tool. Its contents, ideas and orientations often have a profound influence on the students. In 1904, the first "new-style" Chinese school was established in Malaya. Its textbooks were compiled and published in China similar to those used by Chinese students in China. In the 1930s, textbooks oriented towards Nanyang were specifically compiled and published in China for Nanyang overseas students. In the mid 1930s, textbooks were still compiled in China but published locally in Malaya. However, their contents continued to manifest a strong orientation towards China. In 1952, the Ministry of Education of the Federation of Malaya started revising Chinese school textbooks as recommended by the Fenn-Wu Report. In the 1950s, Malaya was seeking for self-government. In order to inculcate a sense of loyalty towards the nation among the Chinese, textbooks were revised to invoke local awareness through the portrayal of a Malayan orientation. This paper attempts to study the development of Chinese language textbooks used by Chinese primary schools during the pre-independence era by analyzing and comparing their publishers, special features and ideological contents.