'No directive to record teachers' political leanings'

The Education Ministry had not issued any directive to its state departments to collect information on the political leanings of teachers, says its deputy minister Puad Zarkashi.

Asked about a letter purportedly issued by the Tawau Education Department, Puad said he has never sighted such a letter and was not is aware of such an instruction.

"There is no ministry directive. I have not heard of the letter. You will need to ask the Tawau Education Department why they did so," he said when contacted.

Attempts to reach Tawau education officer Darman Shah Asakil, who is purported to have issued the letter to Tawau school principals on March 1, for his response were not successful, with the feedback being that Darman "is at an urgent meeting".

The letter, which was first posted on the blog Ameno World and currently being circulated over the Internet, instructs principals and headmasters to categorise the political leanings of the staff under them.

White, grey and black teachers

The school heads need to categorise their staff as either 'white', for supportive and "grateful" to the government, 'grey', for those "openly critical of government or friendly to opposition" and 'black' for card-carrying opposition party members.

Those who "actively campaign against the government and try to influence their colleagues to take part in activities that encourage hatred for government" will also fall under the 'black' category.

The letter states that the directive was given by the Sabah Education Department at a special meeting on Feb 29.

School heads are asked to provide the names, MyKad numbers, places of origin, rankings, behaviour and recommendations for the colour category of their staff in an appended form.

"As the information collected may be affect those involved, I seek that you fill the information form yourselves so it is kept confidential under the Official Secrets Act," the letter states.

The Sabah Education Department, too, was not available for comment.

Malaysiakini will continue to try to contact Darman Shah and the Sabah Education Department.

Last year, Johor Education Department director Markom Giran was caught on video, campaigning for  the BN in the Tenang by-election.

However, Markom denied the allegation, saying he was merely telling teachers to "support government policies" , and that it was his right to identify his subordinates's political leanings.