The Higher Education Ministry will appoint three proof-readers to shift through the latest Ethnic Relations Module, which was launched last week.

The ministry's director of academic affairs Dr Rujhan Mustapa said currently the panel, led by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Malay World and Civilisation Institute director Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, are still editing and finalising the module.

The proof-readers will comprise experts in language, Malaysian law and history, he added when met at his office in Putrajaya today.

Rujhan said Shamsul and his team have been given two weeks to complete the editing process while the proof-readers will have another two weeks for their perusal before it is sent for publishing.

Public feedback

Asked why the cabinet had approved the module when it contained errors, Rujhan said: "The cabinet did not go through the details on every page but only the facts concerning major issues."

The factual, grammatical and typographical errors were pointed out by prominent academic Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi.

Elaborating on the panel of editors, Rujhan said it will involve at least six doctorate students.

As for the team led by Shamsul in the drafting process, he said four academicians were involved in the final compilation process.

They were Prof Sabihah Osman from Universiti Sabah Malaysia, Prof Ramlah Adam from Universiti Malaya, Prof Firdaus Abdullah, director- general of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and Prof Latiff Samian from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

"During the six stages of the drafting process, different panels headed by Shamsul were involved. However, in terms of ideas, the last team (the above panel) had contributed the most," he noted.

Meanwhile, Rujhan said the revision process will not delay the ministry from distributing the module to public universities in July.

He said the ministry also welcomed feedback from the people in order to improve on the module.

"We will take into serious consideration the comments from the public on the module. However, their comments can only be adopted in the next edition," he added.

The Ethnic Relations module was first introduced last year as a compulsory subject for first-year university students. The module drew flak from various groups due to some of its contents.