Out of more than 406,000 students in Sekolah Agama Rakyat (public religious schools), only 3,902 have accepted the government's offer to switch to mainstream schools, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

This means that less than 1% (0.0096%) of those who are currently enrolled in the country's 266 SAR schools nationwide have made the switch.

Despite these numbers, Education Ministry parliamentary secretary Dr Mahadzir Mohd Khir told the House today that the government had no plans to reinstate financial allowances to SAR schools.

"For those full-time SAR that have not been offered to be registered as government-assisted schools, the ministry has no plans to give any allowance," he said in reply to a question from Dr Mohd Hayati Othman (PAS-Pendang).

Mohd Hayati had asked for the number of students still continuing their studies in the religious schools and if government assistance would be reinstated.

Viable option

In response to Mahadzir's disclosure, the PAS leader as well as a BN backbencher asked if the government was giving parents a viable option as there is not enough space in national schools to accommodate the large number of pupils.

"What would happen to those SAR schools on which alot of resources had been spent but faced questions of survival on account of financial uncertainties?" asked Mohd Hayati.

Backbencher Md Alwi Che Ahmad (BN-Ketereh) said in Kelantan, which had the most number of SAR schools (91), there was a limit as to the number of pupils that can be taken in by state religious schools.

He said parents who perceived a lack of grounding in the government schools' religious curriculum, the only other choice would be to go to a SAR school.

"Is this the best way to settle the matter for parents who would like for their children to go to religious schools?" he asked.

Md Alwi said if parents were given a real choice instead of having to decide between non-religious government schools and SAR schools, there would not be an issue.

T he privately run religious schools became a national controversy after the government pulled the plug on annual grants ranging from RM60 to RM150 per student in October 2002.

The hardline measure followed former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that students in SAR schools, mostly linked to PAS, were being taught to hate the government.