About 1,000 students and activists from independent Islamic schools (SAR) demonstrated in front of the Parliament building today demanding the allocation of funds for these schools in the 2013 Budget.

NONE According to spokesperson Zainal Abidin Kidam, this is because some 800,000 students are now studying in such schools that have sub-par facilities despite parents forking out up to RM600 a month.

“This involves more than a million parents, who choose to send their children to Islamic schools. Islam is the official religion of the federation, and education is the responsibility of the federal government.

“It is the right of the individual to receive Islamic education,” he said.

Zainal, who represents Majlis Permuafakatan Pendidikan Islam Selangor, said about 30,000 students sit for the Islamic stream Form 6 examinations every year.

'This is not how they should be treated'

"Of these, 6,000 gain distinction, out of whom only 3,000 are catered by the government-aided Islamic schools (SABK). The rest are privately funded," he said.

"Those who go to Islamic schools are not marginal students, they are good students from good families. Islamic schools should be mainstreamed."

NONE Funding for such schools should also be included in the budget proper and not be in the form of one-off aid and other forms of off-budget spending.

"This is not the way to treat Islamic schools," Zainal said, adding that these schools were registered with their respective state religious councils.

He also ticked off the federal government for pawning off the responsibility for Islamic schools to the state governments, which have much smaller budgets.

"Kelantan spends RM70 million to fund Islamic schools, Kedah RM50 million and Selangor RM250 million. On top of that Selangor allocates about RM6 million for independent Islamic schools," Zainal said.

He was speaking on behalf of about 100 NGOs from across the nation that support the cause.

Also present was Selangor executive councilor in charge of education Halimah Ali and DAP's Pandamaran assemblyperson Ronnie Liu.

Ministry: Register as SABK to get funding

Asked about this later, Deputy Education Minister Puad Zarkashi said that religious schools that seek funding should register with the Education Ministry.

Dr Puad Zarkashi "If you want, register (as government-assisted religious schools, SABK). In the budget there are allocations for the SABK," Puad ( right ) said.

He said even teachers themselves preferred to register SARs to enjoy a higher pay scale and benefits, such as continuous education.

"It is the governing boards, the mudir, that do not want to register. They are usually the school's founding families, for they see the mudir as losing control (over the schools)," Puad said.

In Johor, he added, 156 out of 382 schools have registered as SABK.

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