The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) wants the Education Ministry to provide it with the full report, compiled by an independent committee, on racial segregation in schools without further delay.

NUTP president Tengku Habsah Tengku Petera today said if the ministry was serious about addressing the issue, it must immediately provide a copy of the full report to the union, especially when the committee was set up following the unions request.

She said NUTP does not even have a copy of the 20-page executive summary which denied there was any deliberate racial segregation in schools.

What we know about the report is what we read in the newspapers, which are based on the executive summary. Where is the full report? Why is the government afraid to release it? Is it hiding something?

Why should we cook up stories if we dont have any evidence of racial-streaming? That is why we dont see the need to apologise to anyone, she told malaysiakini when met at NUTPs office in Kuala Lumpur.

On the possibility of defamation suits and police reports piling up against the union or its officials, Tengku Habsah said it was up to the parties concerned to do so.

However, she stressed that the union would defend its stand on the issue.

The controversy first surfaced last November when parents of several students of a school in Port Klang, Selangor complained that their children who qualified among the top five in their classes were relegated to the second best class.

Following this, NUTP secretary-general N Siva Subramaniam submitted a list containing the names of 210 schools which allegedly practised racial streaming to the Education Ministry.

This prompted the ministry to set up an independent committee which found that racial segregation was minimal and not deliberate.

The seven-member committee said classes composed of students from one particular racial group did exist but it was due to the inconsistencies in planning time tables as well as the low number of non-Malay students in those schools.

Apology demanded

Since the committee revealed its findings, Siva has been assailed by various quarters who demanded an apology for the baseless allegations.

However, the NUTP official has remained defiant, saying that he would like to explain all the facts and figures to Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Siva also warned the Education Ministry not to issue threats against him for standing by his claim

Former NUTP president Abu Bakar Shawkat Ali, who was also present together with Siva and his deputy Phua Bok Meng at the NUTP office today, said the initial complaints about the practices in the Port Klang school were serious.

When a child who deserves to be in a top class is placed somewhere else, it certainly is racial segregation. What else can you call it? he said.

Meanwhile, on former NUTP secretary-general A Rajagurus call for Siva to quit for concocting problems which dont exist, Tengku Habsah said the former was entitled to his opinion but should not talk as a member as he was no longer in benefit.

Rajaguru, now retired from the teaching profession, described Siva in a caustic statement yesterday as someone who generalises and sensationalises issues by presenting them as a national malaise.

Disputing Sivas method of conducting the survey of the segregation, Rajaguru said as a member, he has not seen anything published in the unions newsletter Guru Malaysia nor was it raised at any of the delegates conferences over the years.