Nine standard six students studying at the original site of SJK(C) Damansara are still being given the runaround by the Education Ministry over their application to sit for a compulsory government examination this year.

Wong Yew Kong whose son is due to sit for the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) this year said attempts by several parents to meet with Education Minister Musa Mohamad this morning proved futile. Musa's confidential secretary Abdul Rahman Othman told them the minister could not be met under "such circumstances".

The parents had wanted to meet Musa to hand him a letter asking for the latest developments in the students' applications to sit for the UPSR.

The students had earlier submitted separate applications through the Tropicana campus of SJK(C) Damansara and directly to the Selangor state education department. However, both application attempts were rejected on the ground that the school was "not recognised" by the government.

"We were informed that we have to write another letter seeking for an appointment with Musa and the minister would respond according to his schedule," said Wong after the meeting this morning.

The secretary declined to indicate when an appointment could be made, Wong said. "We wanted to know whether it would be one week or two weeks. We cannot wait for long as the examination is going to take place in September."

He said when the parents pressed for a date, the discussion with Abdul Rahman got heated up.

"We were told that there will be no answer and we were threatened that the police would be called if we did not leave," claimed Wong, adding that members of the press were also asked to leave.

Appeal to ministry

The parents decided to meet Musa after three Chinese dailies quoted the minister as saying on March 29 that the students would be allowed to sit for the examination if they sent in an appeal letter to the Selangor education department.

The parents sent a letter of appeal on March 28 to the state education department as well as Deputy Education Minister Hon Choon Kim who had promised to look into the matter.

They were however given the runaround when they followed up on the appeal status. The Selangor education department was said to have referred the matter back to Musa's office while Hon's confidential secretary denied ever receiving a copy of the appeal letter and instead asked parents to refer to the state education department.