Save the SAR movement (Gegar) is counting o­n the Malay Rulers, who are holding their two-day annual conference from today, to consider a plea to support the sekolah agama rakyat (SAR), despite the King's criticism of this education system.

The 196 th conference, being held at Istana Negara, is scheduled to hear the issue following Gegar's recent representations to the Rulers of Perak, Kedah, Terengganu and Perlis. They had assured Gegar chairperson Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid that this would be o­n the agenda.

Mohd Azmi said he was confident that criticism of SAR by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tunku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalulail would not deter the Rulers' Conference from giving the issue a fair hearing.

The King, while the opening of the 10 th session of Parliament o­n Monday, had expressed regret that several SAR were teaching students to hate other Muslims. He had also supported the government's call for SAR students to transfer to national schools.

Plan of action

Mohd Azmi said he was disappointed that the King's speech had o­nly reinforced the government's "loose" statements against SAR.

"But it does not mean that our efforts have been wasted. The Sultans whom we have met were very concerned and supportive when we briefed them o­n our struggle," he said.

"We have sent them our memorandum with facts about SAR and we believe that they are clear o­n the issues involved. We are very hopeful that the conference will have positive results."

Asked about Gegar's plan of action should the Rulers be unable to take a common stand to support SAR, Mohd Azmi said efforts would continue to ensure that the constitutional right of Malays to their choice of education would be preserved.

One possibility, he said, would be to convince each Ruler that a state policy could be established to protect SAR.

"Religious education is a state policy and each state should be able to make independent decisions as to the future of SARs," he said.

Gegar had sought the help of the Rulers to urge the government to reconsider the decision to withdraw the per capita grant given to SAR and integrate it into the mainstream education system.

It said the government's claim that such schools have delivered deviant Islamic teachings was politically motivated because, to date, no proof has been produced to substantiate the allegation.

Some 74,000 students are currently enrolled in 260 SAR around the country. They are privately-run schools offering Islamic religious education.