A school in Negeri Sembilan which named its lower secondary classes as 1 Mujahidin, 2 Mujahidin and 3 Mujahidin, have changed them to Mulia early September last year.

An education source who spoke on condition of anonymity, told malaysiakini today that the classes of SMK Mantin were so named by the then principal when the aliran agama (religious stream) classes were introduced in 1999.

The source said the rationale for naming the classes such was supposed to be based on certain values found in the Arabic language.

"Several other words such as fadilat (virtue/excellence), amanah (trust/trustworthy) and bistari (smart), were also shortlisted but mujahidin (crusader/champion) was chosen.

"In the light of what happened on Sept 11, that term has become a very sensitive issue. That is why the name has been changed to mulia (noble)."

SMK Mantin is a double-session school with 1,500 students.

The aliran agama are optional classes, introduced by the Education Ministry to offer students an extra language.

In the memorandum by the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) to the ministry, parents, guardians and teachers complained that such classes only have Malay/Muslim students, which is a form of segregation.

But a state education department source explained it as "coincidence".

"The fact that Arabic is the language of the Al-Quran naturally attracts Malay/Muslim students. The children get a deeper understanding of their religion by learning the language.

"Furthermore, these classes, modeled after the sekolah agama (religious schools), also have the same schedule as other classes in that school but for the addition of an Arabic language session."

Independent committee

Allegations of racial streaming in schools first surfaced late 2001 when parents of several students of SK Pelabuhan Kelang complained that their children, who qualified among the top five in their classes, were relegated to the second-best class.

They complained to the NUTP, whose secretary-general N Siva Subramaniam was asked to respond to media queries. He said some 10 percent of schools in Malaysia practised racial streaming.

Following this, Education Minister Musa Mohamad challenged the union to produce the full list of schools within one week.

A seven-member independent committee set up soon after began its probe on Jan 2 following the union's initial revelation that 210 primary and secondary schools were segregating the children according to their race.

On March 21, the Independent Committee on Segregation in Schools announced that classes composed of students from one particular ethnic group did exist but it was due to the inconsistencies in planning timetables as well as the low number of non-Malay students in those schools.

The committee, headed by former Universiti Sains Malaysia deputy vice-chancellor Prof K J Ratnam, was comprised of former deputy education director-general (I) Omar Mohd Hashim, former Universiti Malaya administration lecturer Prof Murugesu Pathmanathan, Pintas CEO Dr Wan Halim Othman, UM social psychologist Prof Chiam Heng Keng, former schools division director Jumaat Mohd Noor and former state education director Saw Chee Leng.

On a parent's claim that most schools in Muar, Johor, conducting tuition classes ( tuisyen kampung ) exclusively for bumiputra students are using funds from the menteri besar, a state education source denied it was state government funds.

"Yes, these tuisyen kampung are run under a special programme by Umno for the Pagoh parliamentary constituency and started off with five secondary schools last year.

"For this year, there is a proposal that the programme be extended to primary schools due to the good examination results obtained by the students," the source said.

The Pagoh member of Parliament is Umno vice-president Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin, who is also the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister.

Waiting for full report

Meanwhile, Zamani Ahmad, one of the five headmasters contemplating defamation suits against Siva for identifying their schools as practicing racial streaming, was unavailable for comments today.

Zamani's school in Johor Baru has been accused of racial streaming by a parent based on the enrolment record for year 2000 which shows that not a single non-Malay pupil was placed in any of the top classes for each level.

The Johor education director reportedly denied such a practice.

Today, Siva said the union has obtained a copy of the 20-page report summary but it is still waiting for the ministry to fulfill its written request for the full report.