DAP party leaders today question how racial streaming in schools could have taken place without the education ministry officials being aware of it.

DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang said today that the failure of Education Minister Musa Mohamad to keep abreast of what is happening in national schools reflects poorly on his competence, efficiency and professionalism.

"Why was Musa so cut off from what is happening in the primary and secondary schools under his direct charge that he could issue such an ill-considered challenge to (National Union of the Teaching Profession secretary-general) N Siva Subramaniam?" Lim asked.

Musa had told Siva to furnish details of the latter's allegation last week that about 10 percent of the 10,000 schools in the country are practising racial segregation.

Lim also questioned the independence of the education ministry's investigation into the issue as the ministry's officials are responsible for the "negligence and professional failures in allowing such pernicious practices to continue unchecked for years".

Party secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock, too, wondered how racial streaming of students could have taken place without the knowledge and involvement of education ministry officials.

Kerk added that since the issue has come to public light, it is necessary and important that pressures demanding for actions, accountability and answers must be stepped up.

"If not for the NUTP list and public pressure, one wonders if Musa will abandon his defensive attitude exhibited earlier," said Kerk, who is also MP for Kota Melaka.

Siva had issued a list of 32 schools on Wednesday, promising 200 more next week in reply to the challenge by the education minister to back up his allegations.

Not racial issue

Kerk stressed that this is not a racial issue and any attempts to make it one must be thwarted.

He criticised MIC president S Samy Vellu for warning that the issue may turn into a racial one.

"By calling for such caution, Samy Vellu has inadvertently accepted this to be a racial issue. His call will only create unnecessary pressure for himself and other groups that are demanding that the ministry solve the problem," said Kerk.

"The racial streaming is a clear-cut case of violation against the national education policy and it is not a racial issue," he said.

The reports of racial segregation in schools first surfaced when parents of several students from SK Pelabuhan Kelang in Selangor complained that their children who qualified among the top five in their classes, were relegated to the second class.

Musa then clarified that the education ministry does not have a segregation policy according to race and that he had not received any report in the past on the matter.

However, during a press conference yesterday, Samy Vellu said he had raised the issue before with the then Education Minister Najib Abdul Razak.