The methodology used by the independent committee to probe the alleged racial segregation in schools has raised doubts over the accuracy of the information it had gathered during visits to various schools in the country.

A social scientist who wished to remain anonymous told malaysiakini the basic flaw was the failure of the committee to interview the affected children and their parents in a confidential manner and on an individual basis.

"The focus of the committee should have been on ordinary parents and their affected children, not the Ministry of Education officials, headmasters or parent-teacher associations.

"It is crucial to get the children's testimony because they are direct victims of the practice."

He said by adopting a certain line of questioning suited to children's psyche, not unlike the child testimonies for court cases, the committee could have obtained vital information about the alleged practices.

Media reports slammed

Referring to media reports, the social scientist also pointed out that the interviews were not done in a confidential manner.

"For example, teachers were placed in the presence of education officers from the district and ministry, not to mention their respective superiors. Of course they will not speak the truth for fear of being victimised.

"This also goes for parents who have children still studying in the same school."

He said the committee members, who were experts in various fields, would have had the experience and resources to conduct a proper investigation into the allegations, but had failed to do so.

The social scientist also blamed the media, in particular the print media for "one-sided coverage" of the issue since causing it to be blown out of proportion.

"The print media has not been airing critical views of the issues but rather have been solely focused on the apology and the alleged seditious remarks by the complainants, intent on looking for scapegoats and finding faults.

"Now, it has become a different issue altogether, diverted away from the actual problem at hand, which is that segregation does exist in our school system."

Siva apologises

The issue of racial segregation surfaced last November when parents of students from a school in Port Klang said their children, who are non-Muslims, were relegated to the second-best class despite scoring high marks.

Following this, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) submitted a list containing the names of 210 schools nationwide which allegedly practised racial streaming to the Education Ministry.

An independent committee was set up to probe the matter and later negated NUTP's charge landing the union, particularly its secretary-general N Siva Subramaniam in a quagmire.

Various quarters assailed Siva urging him to apologise for making the 'baseless' charge but he remained defiant, until yesterday.

In an emergency meeting held last night, Siva and NUTP resolved to apologise to all concerned parties barely hours after Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad urged that the debate on the issue be stopped..

The NUTP secretary-general was reported as saying that the union had decided to heed Mahathir's call.

Marginalised

Meanwhile, a sociologist, who also requested anonymity, said it is now time to address how the minority in national schools could be made to feel a part of the country's education system.

"No one should feel marginalised by race, religion or gender. The fact that many parents chose to send their children to national schools reflect a serious intention to have racial integration, but with problems like these, those efforts will get nowhere," he said.

"The media has a constructive role to play in clearing the air because I think the problem is largely due to the wrong perception among the minority in the schools, and I say this without discounting the legitimacy of the complaints," he added.

According to the sociologist, the root of the problem is the "serious contradiction" between national education policies and its implementation.