A vocal Chinese education movement has come out in defence of the People's Religious Schools or Sekolah Agama Rakyat (SAR), calling o­n the government to issue a white paper o­n the matter.

Dong Jiao Zong, which has consistently championed the right to mother tongue education, said the white paper should explain clearly the controversy surrounding the issue.

"For example, what contents of subjects [taught in SARs] have diverted [and] from what? How is SAR a stumbling block to the country's development, [as alleged by the government]?" asked the movement.

"By [explaining this], the public will be able to understand the government's handling of SAR, and can judge for themselves whether the action was appropriate or not," it added in a statement dated Feb 13.

The controversy arose when the government decided to stop financial assistance to about 260 SARs nationwide.