Education Minister Hishamuddin Hussein today said students in Sekolah Agama Rakyat (SAR) are no longer being taught to hate the government as alleged by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the past.

"The mood has changed, I hope no quarter will exploit this issue anymore," he said in response to a question during a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

He added that the study on these schools, being carried out by a special committee , was purely for academic reasons with the intention of churning out students who are competitive globally.

Following Mahathir's accusation, the government withdrew financial assistance to SAR schools, which are mostly linked to PAS, in October 2002.

In September this year, the Education Ministry reiterated that it has no intention of reinstating the grant.

PAS has also repeatedly denied that it was sowing seeds of discontent towards the government in SAR pupils.

Low academic results

Meanwhile, Hishamuddin said in reality SAR students have lower academic results, including in Islamic subjects, compared to their peers in mainstream schools.

The minister, who cited a set of statistics from his 'personal research' to substantiate his claim, also alleged that teachers in SAR schools have lower academic qualifications.

He stressed that the government did not mean to 'torture' any SAR student or sideline religious studies by terminating financial assistance.

On the contrary, he said the government placed great emphasis in teaching religious subjects such as Jawi and Al-Quran in mainstream schools.

He also revealed that the Education Ministry has allocated RM32 million early this year to 1,459 kafa (a category of religious schools registered with the ministry).

"We hope that SAR pupils would return to mainstream education such as national schools," he added.

Committee's recommendations

The minister also said that the recommendations by the special committee, tasked to review the religious school system, would be implemented in stages from early next year.

However, he declined to reveal the recommendations as the report is still being deliberated by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. It was handed to him in September.

"It would be premature for me to reveal the recommendations now, the announcement should be made by the premier," he explained.

The minister said the recommendations focused on three parts, namely the committee's findings on the current SAR performance and the legal and financial implications involved in the review.

Hishamuddin said he was briefed by the committee occasionally pertaining to the progress of the report and opined that the recommendations were "fair and realistic."

The special committee headed by former education ministry's director-general Murad Mohd Nor was instructed by the King last March to include SAR schools in its study after appeals were made to the Malay Rulers Conference.

'Political decision'

During the oral question session in the Dewan Rakyat earlier, Hishamuddin told Syed Hood Syed Edros (BN-Parit Sulong) that a total of 14,071 SAR students have transferred to mainstream schools up to November last year.

In another supplementary question, Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) demanded that the ministry tables the report in Parliament for debate and blasted the government for making a 'political decision' on the SAR issue.

Lim was referring to the decision made by the Umno Supreme Council, and not the government, to review the education system.

Responding, Hishamuddin said religion and language have always been the concern of Umno but implementation falls under jurisdiction of the government.

He added that the report does not need to be debated in Parliament.