The Centre for Public Policy Studies cautions against political overkill in relation to the outcry over the Ethnic Relations course being introduced to public higher education institutes.

There can be little disagreement that an academically rigorous, accurate and non-partisan Ethnic Relations foundation course can play a useful role in providing our tertiary students with historically informed and nuanced knowledge on the multi-racial, multi-religious and multi- cultural character of the country's population and on how the various communities and sub- communities have interacted in the making of our society until its present form today.

Such courses are taught in leading universities all over the world and it would be a big mistake to scrap the course simply because of mistakes and inaccuracies found in the Universiti Putra Malaysia guidebook.

The centre notes that the initial planning of the course appears to have been carried out with exemplary due diligence conducted to elicit feedback and input from academicians, experts and community organisations. Whilst similar due diligence seems to have been lacking or missing in the preparation of the final UPM textbook - resulting in factual inaccuracies and unacceptable political bias - there is no justification for throwing the baby out with the bath water.

The way forward in the resolution of this issue is for the Higher Education Ministry and the relevant authorities to bring in interested and concerned stakeholders, including members of parliament, into the work process leading to the finalised textbooks. Such stakeholders should not be confined to 'in-house' experts or officials who may have their own narrow interests or who may not be aware of the contentious nature of some of the proposed content.

Also, in view of the sensitive nature of the course, there should be meaningful multi-ethnic representation in the individuals and groups consulted and playing a lead role in the production of the textbook. The entire process of preparation and production of the textbooks should be made as transparent as possible.

Bias and subjectivity - whether political, racial or religious - should be avoided with the emphasis placed on relevant and correct factual content. Drafts of the textbook can be posted on the websites of the universities and the Higher Education Ministry so as to elicit views and inputs from the larger community of Malaysians.

Finally, the centre notes that the public attention to this particular issue is not isolated. There have been similar concerns on perceived bias, selectivity, misrepresentation and distortions found in other curricula and textbooks - notably that pertaining to the teaching of history.

We hope that the two relevant ministries - the Higher Education Ministry and the Education Ministry - can learn the proper lessons from this outcry to put into place a system of ensuring that the content of key curricula and courses taught in the schools and universities are historically accurate, fully reflective of the evolution of the multi-racial character of the country and devoid of propagandistic content or narrow analyses that can only distort what has really taken place in the country's history and development.

The writer is director, Centre for Public Policy Studies, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute.