Don’t shrug off responsibility, rights group tells Fadhlina

 

A Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia workshop allegedly held only for Muslim students by a school in Johor has raised questions of racism.

PETALING JAYA: The education ministry’s decision to shrug off its responsibility to the Johor state education department for a probe into a Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) workshop allegedly only for Muslim students is disappointing, rights group Pusat Komas said today.

In a statement, the group said education minister Fadhlina Sidek should make a stand and address the issue of alleged racism and racial discrimination in schools.

“The minister’s decision to leave the issue to the district education office is disappointing and it is akin to shrugging off her responsibility of promoting unity at the school level.

“This behaviour is in contrast to the Malaysia Madani concept – an inclusive Malaysia for all Malaysians regardless of race and religion – promoted by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim,” it said.

Yesterday, a Twitter thread claimed that a school in Johor Bahru held an overnight SPM examination workshop and that it was only for Muslim students as the workshop would be focusing on Islamic studies.

Twitter user @sangria200 alleged that the workshop covered subjects such as chemistry and additional mathematics, and that non-Muslim students were not even informed about it.

The Johor education department said it had investigated the matter and would release a statement soon.

Snippets of conversations on the schools’ parent-teacher association (PTA) WhatsApp group, which were shared online, showed that the principal promptly shut down parents who questioned the workshop, only allowing admin messages in the group and enabling the chat’s setting for disappearing messages.

Fadhlina had said the Johor education department would probe the matter but later the ministry issued a statement saying that workshops were being conducted in a series to avoid disruption to candidates preparing to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Pusat Komas said the ministry’s explanation and the principal’s action in the WhatsApp group when questioned did not match.

“Based on the WhatsApp trail shared by a disgruntled parent, the workshop was held just for Muslim students under the guise of it only covering Islamic studies.

“The ministry’s attempt at damage control by claiming that another session of the workshop will be organised is disingenuous.”

The group is calling for action to be taken against perpetrators of racism and racial discrimination in schools.

“Let this be a timely reminder that racism should not be swept under the carpet anymore!” - FMT