Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia - Deputy Education Minister Datuk Hon Choon Kim reiterated Thursday that candidates sitting for public examinations will no longer be required to state their religion on the registration slips effective next year.
His assurance comes on the heels of concerns raised by parents over the need to identify students as Muslims or non-Muslims in the ongoing PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah) examination.
Hon, who was met on arrival at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), said he had read about these concerns in the newspapers and directed the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate (MES) Director Dr Salleh Hassan to make a clarification.
In his response to the parents concerned, Salleh was reported as saying it was a normal process as the information was required to determine the number of Moral and Islamic studies examination papers to print.
He thereafter said MES had decided to abolish the practice next year in response to the vociferous complaints from the public.
Hon said: "He (Salleh) has explained that the main purpose is to identify whether the students are Muslims or non-Muslims so that they can sit for certain exam papers.
"It is to make it easier to identify the candidates. But it turned out to be a sensitive issue. So starting next year, there will be no more (such requirement)."
MES had said there was no hidden agenda in requiring candidates to state their religion. Hon is in Sabah to officiate at the official opening of a new pre-school building, SK Tiongon, in Nabalu today (Friday).
Meanwhile, he said the Ministry had yet to consider the proposal by Bishop Rev. Datuk John Lee and other prominent individuals in Sabah for students to be allowed to learn their own religions during school hours.
"(Presently) Muslim students study Islamic Studies and non-Muslims study Moral Studies. In Moral Studies, we have already put in all the universal values€onfucian values, Buddhism values, Christian values, all these are the same," said Hon.
"We have not considered it (the proposal) as yetÆhen you will have Buddhism Studies, Confucian Studies, Taoism Studies and so on. Where will they have time to study all these?"
On the application by 15 government-aided Chinese schools in Sabah for the Ministry's emergency allocation of RM10 million as pledged by the Minister Datuk Hishamuddin Hussein for the immediate repair of termite-infested and poor-conditioned Chinese school buildings, Hon said the Public Works Department is looking into it.
"I have already submitted the names of these 15 schools which need urgent repair with cost amounting to over RM800,000 to the Minister and he has approved and sent it to the Public Works Department for the necessary checks.
"Once everything is okay, repairs will be carried out," he said, adding the RM10mil emergency allocation mentioned is only for government-aided Chinese school but not Mission schools "which will be assisted through other channels".