Dayak parents shun MRSM colleges in Sarawak

Mara appears to have misunderstood the term Bumiputera within the context of Sarawak.

KUCHING: Many Dayak parents in Sarawak are refusing to send their children to Mara junior science colleges (MRSM) in the state following reports of “too many stories of what’s going on in the colleges”, according to local DAP grassroots leader, Leon Jimat Donald, in a statement carried by the Malaysian Insider.

“Dayaks parents are refusing to send their children to MRSM due to the rules the colleges have,” said Leon. (peraturan tambahan untuk pelajar bukan Islam — additional rules for non-Muslim students).

He cited MRSM Betong which has a Dayak student population of about 50 per cent as an example.

These rules, he alleged, are supporting brazen efforts by “unscrupulous teachers” to subtly convert Dayak school children in MRSM Betong.

The issue has re-ignited after the rules on non-Islamic activities were posted by an irate parent on Facebook and prompted Leon to raise the issue again.

Under the “additional rules”, all religious activities, with the exception of Islamic religious activities, are totally prohibited within MRSM campuses.

All religious symbols, other than that of Islam, are also totally prohibited from being displayed in the colleges and “attendance at non-Islamic religious activities outside the college campuses on weekends require permission”.

Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Youth, in a statement, said Mara appears to have misunderstood the term Bumiputera within the context of Sarawak. “Bumiputera does not have to mean Malay and Muslim,” said Martin John Madden, the head of the wing’s education bureau.

“The Dayaks in Sabah and Sarawak are Bumiputera and the majority of them are non-Muslim.”