KUALA LUMPUR: Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has left it to the Johor Education Department whether to take action against a school for allegedly conducting an overnight examination workshop for only Muslim Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students.
She told news portal FMT that the matter was the purview of the state Education Department
A Twitter user, who goes by the handle Anne Louis, had posted a thread claiming that a school in Johor Baru held an overnight SPM examination workshop for only Muslim students, but the school initially said it was only for Islamic studies.
She said it turned out, other subjects were covered as well, and that non-Muslim students were not invited to attend the programme.
When contacted, the Johor Education Department said it had investigated the matter and would release a statement soon.
It is learnt that the school in question is SMK Infant Jesus Convent, and it has been contacted for comment.
Anne Louis had said that parents were told about the allegedly Muslim-only workshop by their children, who found out from their Muslim classmates that it had taken place a few days before the Chinese New Year break.
The parents had then queried the school's principal on their parent-teacher association (PTA) WhatsApp group.
Screenshots shared on the thread, indicated that the principal responded by saying that the decision was taken to ensure that Malay students could keep up with the school's achievements as trial examination results showed that 40 of them would fail their SPM.
The principal claimed there was "no issue of double standards and leaving anyone behind" and that the school wanted all students to do well.
She also asked the parents to accept the workshop with an open mind and not to make it into a racial issue.
When contacted by the NST, Anne Louis, who declined to state how she obtained the screenshots, said the school had "held an overnight 2-day 1-night SPM workshop only for Muslim students at a hotel, flying it under the radar by saying it's just for those taking the Agama-subject".
"When it included Chemistry and Additional Mathematics, etc. It was paid for by a donor, with non-Muslim students left out and not informed of the workshop."
She said parents feared coming forward as they were afraid there would be consequences on their children who would be sitting for their exam in around a month.
Anne Louis said she contacted Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and that the minister replied that her office would investigate the matter.
The PTA has sent its queries to the principal and is awaiting a response.