Penang Deputy Chief Minister II and state education exco P Ramasamy has lambasted the double standards of the Education Ministry for investigating a missionary school for allegedly reciting a Christian prayer during an awards ceremony.
He said the Education Ministry must find out the complete details of the matter before "jumping up and down", adding that as state education exco, the Education Ministry is expected to raise the matter with him so that an amicable solution can be found.
"We only want what is best for our students. A simple warning will do if the school has contravened the law or any regulations," Ramasamy told Malaysiakini.
"Just because some parties have raised the matter, the Education Ministry should proceed with caution," he said.
Ramasamy was referring to the Education Ministry's stern warning to the Methodist Girls’ School in Penang for allegedly reciting a Christian prayer during an awards ceremony.
As at press time, both the state education department and the school have not responded to queries.
Ramasamy urged the police and ministry to explain what action they took to prevent Zakir Naik's student, Zamri Vinoth from giving religious lectures in a Polytechnic in Perlis.
Hitting out at both departments for their bias in handling the issue, he said there seems to be no action even though a police report was recently lodged against Zamri in Penang.
Education director-general Dr Amin Senin said further disciplinary action was being considered against the school for contravening national education regulations.
The issue was highlighted after a Muslim group lodged a police report, accusing the school of trying to propagate Christianity to Muslims.
But Ramasamy said the members of this group are "racist and rabble-rousers in Penang".
"They have been trying to raise racial and religious issues here, which can disrupt harmony between the races," he said.
Recently, a school in Perak was also issued a warning as it was believed to have conducted an art seminar in Chinese instead of the national language.
