PARLIAMENT | Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching has reiterated that the government will maintain its decision not to compel schools to purchase newspapers owned by political parties such as Utusan Malaysia.

Likewise, Teo told the Dewan Rakyat that the new Pakatan Harapan government also would not compel schools to purchase newspapers if they were owned by component parties of the current ruling coalition.

She said this in response to a question Rosol Wahid (PAS-Hulu Terengganu) posed about whether the Education Ministry will reconsider its decision to end the subscription of Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia in public education institutions.

Rosol said this was because Utusan now had a "new image and a compact size that is friendly to readers".

"I would like to stress that changing one's size does not change the newspaper's mentality.

"The Education Ministry's intention is to subscribe to newspapers that promote good values and foster unity, not the opposite.

"This is to ensure that the education community can make rational considerations on current issues and be respectful in managing the differences in race, culture and language," she said during Question Time.

Utusan had recently converted from a broadsheet newspaper to a tabloid format to manage costs.

In a follow-up question, Rosol said it appeared that the government was implying Utusan Malaysia had split the people and questioned if Education Minister Maszlee Malik was aware of the directive by his aide to cease the subscription.

Maszlee had previously said he was unaware about a leaked memo issued through his special adviser Wan Saiful Wan Jan on the termination of Utusan subscriptions for schools.

Rosol also asked if the Education Ministry would take issue if he sponsored Utusan newspapers for schools in his constituency.

Responding to this, Teo quoted former Utusan chief editor Zainuddin Maidin's statement that the newspaper had become an Umno mouthpiece that spewed racism.

"The former chief editor's quote is good enough (to explain)," she said.

Meanwhile, Cha Kee Chin (DAP-Rasah) asked if the same rule of not subscribing to Utusan will apply to The Star, which is owned by MCA.

"For now, the Education Ministry has not made a decision on other newspapers such as The Star.

"But what I can promise here is (Pakatan) Harapan will not make schools buy newspapers published by Harapan component parties," she said.