National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general N Siva Subramaniam said the independent committee to investigate allegations of racial streaming in schools has "no business" in saying that parents should not have complained to the union.

"The committee has exceed its powers by saying that members of the public cannot approach the NUTP," said Siva during a telephone interview this afternoon.

"If there is something wrong, we will say so. The NUTP will not kowtow (bow down) to any pressure," he asserted.

Yesterday, the committee unveiled the findings from its study that racial streaming was minimal and not deliberate in the 210 schools investigated.

The committee, in its 20-page report, said there are classes which are composed only of students from one racial group but this was due to inconsistencies in planning class time-tables and the low number of non-Malay Malaysian students.

Among others, it proposed that top classes in schools should be open to students from all races and that the government should put more effort into making national schools more attractive for non-Malay Malaysians.

Union being targetted

The committee also expressed its view that all "problems" would not have surfaced if accusations against the school are done via the Parents-Teachers Associations (PTA) and not directly to the NUTP.

Siva today said this shows that the 10,000-strong union is being targetted, including himself, for bringing up the issue.

According to Siva, the fact that there are recommendations from the committee is "clear indication" that there exists problems with the education system.

"The committee has recommended changes in structures within the system and to have class time-tabling redone. If there is nothing wrong, why make recommendations?" asked the union chief.

When asked if he was satisfied with the findings of the committee, Siva said he "looks forward" to seeing the recommendations implemented.

"In a way, we agree to the suggestions such as the implementation of a multiracial PTA and increasing unity which have the same basis as NUTP's recommendations," he explained.

Monitor implementation

Siva also revealed that the union has set up its own committee to monitor if the government follows up on the implementation stage to ensure that the proposals are not put in "cold storage".

When asked to comment on Deputy Education Minister Abdul Aziz Samsuddin's call for him to apologise to teachers who may have been "hurt" by the allegations, Siva said the matter is still not over.

He said although the NUTP's committee will not be investigating the claims of the schools separately, it will continue to pursue the matter based on the report proposals.

In a Bernama report today, Aziz said an apology from Siva would be "appropriate" since the independent committee found the racial streaming allegations to be "baseless".

The issue of racial segregation in schools first surfaced late last year when parents of several students from a school in Selangor complained that their children who qualified among the top five in their classes were relegated to the second class.

Following this, Siva submitted a list of 210 schools which allegedly practised racial streaming. This prompted the ministry to set up the committee to look into the matter.