Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said today  schools should not impose rules not approved by the Education Ministry.

Muhyiddin said this when asked about recent news reports of a non-Malay Form 3 schoolgirl in Cheras being sent out of the school for wearing a baju kurung.

The victim’s father said the student was told that wearing the 'baju kurung' was only reserved for Malay students.

“There is no order from the ministry to any school to stop non-Malay students from wearing the baju kurung.

“Schools should not impose such rules without the ministry’s approval,” Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, told reporters this morning.

He emphasised that the wearing of baju kurung in school, especially by non-Malays, is something to be promoted as it is accepted as part of the national attire,” he said.

The Pagoh MP added that Putrajaya would be investigating the matter and the school involved, as what it did was not right and needed to be corrected.

A report by The Malay Mail said the student of Sarawakian descent was queried by her teachers on her racial origin.

When the teacher found out she was a non-Malay, she was told that she should wear a pinafore instead of the ‘baju kurung’.

The girl was ordered to go home by her teachers at 7am and had to wait outside the school compound till 10am, for her father to pick her up.

The daily also reported Deputy Education Minister II P Kamalanathan as saying that the school had no right to impose such a rule.