Secondary School Race Quotas

I wanted to blog on this issue when I first saw a complaint letter from a concerned parent in Tampin, Negeri Sembilan published in the Star two weeks back.

IT has come to my attention that of many other parents that beginning next year, all Form One classes of SMK Tunku Besar, Tampin, in Negri Sembilan, will be formed with the ratio of 90:10 favouring the bumiputras.

Originally, it was explained by the Deputy Minister of Education, Datuk Noh Omar that there'll only be one such "Kelas Rancangan Khas" (Special Programme Class) in each of the schools to cater to top students who failed to gain entry into the boarding schools, or the Maktab Rendah Sains Malaysia (MRSM).

Such classes, apparently will have the quota in place, similar to the MRSMs whereby it's allowed to admit only up to 10% of non-bumiputeras. In addition, the qualification criteria for such class is 5As for bumiputera students, and 7As for non-bumiputera students in the Primary 6 UPSR examinations.

Such a policy in itself, is a highly discriminating policy which justifies the harshest of criticisms.

However, it was left to the effervescent Sdr Lim Kit Siang who provided the necessary evidence in the form of minutes and directives from the State Education Department in Parliament to prove that the said programme isn't just limited to a class in each school, but entire three "national schools" in Negeri Sembilan - SMK King George V, Seremban, SMK Tuanku Muhammad, Kuala Pilah dan SMK Tunku Besar, Tampin. Hence, instead of "Kelas Rancangan Khas", it became "Sekolah Rancangan Khas".

So, despite the Government's discriminatory allocation of RM709 million to build new MRSMs in the country which catered disproportionately towards the bumiputera community as announced by the Minister of Education, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein recently, it appears that the MRSM programmes are cannibalising the national schools as well.

Thanks to our Parliamentary Opposition Leader, the Ministry of Education has retracted the circular by the Negeri Sembilan State Education Department, claiming that they were "never consulted". As reported in the New Straits Times:

Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday that a circular issued by the Negri Sembilan Education Department imposing a race quota for three of its schools would be retracted immediately as it was not a decision by the ministry and was against the nation's agenda for integration.

The question then which I have is, if indeed the Ministry was unaware of the shennigans in its own state education departments, who seem to possess the uncanny ability to issue directives against national policies, there appears to be a major governance and accountability issues within the Ministry of Education.

And if there are indeed proper governance and accountability controls in place within the Ministry, then surely rogue elements such as State Education Director, Haji A. Hamid bin Abu Hassan must be punished for breaching such controls and acted discriminatorily against national interests.

Will Haji A. Hamid be punished and reprimanded accordingly, not only for the wrong he did, but also to serve as a warning to other State Education officials to avoid such overzealous discriminatory and marginalisation policies? Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, will you act responsibly and justifiably?