Students in national schools are segregated according to merit and not race for the purpose of national integration, Education Ministrys parliamentary secretary Mahadzir Mohd Khir told Parliament today.

This (segregation) is done with the blessings of the Ministry of Education. There are no personal initiatives by headmasters or education officers to segregate students according to race, he said.

Mahadzir was answering a question posed by Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) on the outcome of the probe into the allegation of racial streaming in schools.

Chong also wanted to know why students taking PMR and SPM examinations needed to state their religion on their answer sheets.

She also revealed that a school in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, was practising the quota system according to merit and race.

Isnt this a form of segregation according to race? Is the government going to do something about this? she queried.

She described such methods of integration as practised by the government as unnatural.

According to the opposition MP, there is a feeling of uneasiness among the different races in schools, especially among Chinese Malaysian students.

At this juncture, Chong was interrupted by deputy speaker Lim See Cheng who requested that she state her question and not make a speech.

She then replied that the matter was important and expressed her hope that the government would consider a long term investigation to find out if schools were indeed practising the quota system.

This elicited a response from Mahadzir who reiterated that the countrys education policy was to produce an integrated Malaysian society.

Say sorry

The parliamentary secretary also urged National Union of Teaching Profession secretary-general N Siva Subramaniam to apologise if he had wrongfully accused the ministry of practising racial segregation in schools.

Late last year, Siva had submitted a list containing names of 210 schools allegedly practising racial streaming. This prompted the ministry to set up an independent committee to probe the charge.

Last Thursday, the committee said it had concluded that the practice was minimal and not deliberate

The committee, in its 20-page report, explained that there are classes composed of students from one particular racial group but this was due to inconsistencies in planning class time-tables and the low number of non-Malay Malaysian students in those schools.

Following this, Siva has come under pressure from various quarters, including Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to apologise for making the allegation.

Meanwhile, Mahadzir today also criticised the opposition for politicising the issue and urged Chong to inform her party to accept the Vision School policy which promotes the concept of racial integration.

The one who is disintegrating the society is DAP, he said.

This angered several DAP MPs who told Mahadzir to stop speaking as he was not answering the question.

However, the deputy speaker informed the disgruntled MPs that they could leave the House if they did not want to hear the answer.

The Vision School concept will incorporate national type schools and vernacular schools under one roof.

However, this has been met with strong protest from mother-tongue educationists and DAP.