SCHOOLS should have exam workshops for all who need them without segregating by race, even if only one section of the community needs it, say parent-teacher groups.

Claims of discrimination at a school workshop involving Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students in Johor would not have arisen if there was no intention to segregate pupils, said the National Parent-Teacher Association (NPTA).

NPTA president Assoc Prof Mohamad Ali Hasan said letting students integrate can circumvent prejudice and allow the exchange of ideas.

“This incident should not have occurred. We claim to be a multiracial society but we act as if we are not.

“There are many positives when students integrate, like exchanging ideas, allowing healthy competitiveness as well as inculcating national unity.

“We can avoid being prejudiced after we understand our friends from different races better. We learn and we share what we can from each other.

“Maybe (if) the Malays are good at history, the Chinese can learn from them, maybe the Chinese are good at science, we can learn from them. There is no harm in that,” said the former Tunku Kurshiah College PTA chairman.

Asked if workshop segregation is a norm, Mohamad said he has not heard of such an incident.

He said a day school such as SMK Infant Jesus Convent in Johor Baru cannot afford to act in such a manner. 

“If it is a fully residential school then we can understand the workshop being inclusive for boarding students, but a day school should not act in that way. It (should be) open for everyone,” he said.

Parents and members of the public reacted strongly to claims that an SPM workshop for students of SMK Infant Jesus Convent was meant only for Muslims. The workshop covered critical subjects, including Additional Mathematics and Chemistry.

Non-Muslim students were not invited to join the workshop.

Responding to the controversy, the Education Ministry denied any element of discrimination against non-Muslims. It said there were two workshops organised by the school to avoid disrupting the festivities for students celebrating Chinese New Year.

The parents of students who were not invited to the workshop were not happy with the ministry’s explanation, saying the statement is inconsistent with the principal’s briefing on the matter.

A group of parents said PTA meetings never discussed two separate workshops held as a series, and no approval was sought for the use of funds for such workshops.

The parents are now seeking assurance from the PTA and school administration that all future plans and communication will be collaborative and transparent. 

Parent Action Group for Education chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said the segregation was never intended to stir up racial sentiments.

She said when extra effort is offered to help weak students, it appears there is racial bias, even when there is no such intention. 

“Without a doubt, weak students come from all ethnicities. Unfortunately, the majority, or rather all of the students who are the weakest in their studies and are on the bottom rung, are Malays who attend national schools,” she said.

“Therefore, when extra effort is offered to help the students who are the weakest, it appears that there is racial bias when it was never intended to be that way. These are students who need the most attention and therefore smaller study groups would be more conducive for them.

“It would probably be the same situation in vernacular schools within each dominant ethnicity,” she said.

A principal at a high school in Selangor told The Malaysian Insight that such an incident is rare, blaming the lack of communication between the school and the parents as the reason for the unnecessary trouble.

“They could have communicated better and maybe they could have been more transparent with what was going on. The intention (to segregate by race) may not have been there, but when others were left out, of course the other parents would feel neglected.

“It was an unnecessary incident to begin with. The reason given by the school was even more irrelevant,” said the headmaster, who declined to be named. – January 28, 2023.