KUALA LUMPUR – A school in Batu Pahat, Johor, which was lambasted for segregating its students’ sporting activities along racial lines, issued a public apology today.
SMK Dato’ Bentara Luar principal Abdul Razak Hamid said the school’s management had overlooked the matter and was not thorough.
“The error was unintentional and it happened due to our own mistake for not being thorough before we disseminated the information,” he said in a statement here.
“Once again, we apologise and promise not to repeat the error. Mindful of our mistake, we have made the necessary improvements and corrections, based on the policy implementation procedure that has been entrusted to us.”
Yesterday, a notice issued by the school on the registration of Form 1 students for co-curricular activities made its rounds on social media, with many Malaysians slamming its policy as being racist and unacceptable.
According to the notice, students could only choose to participate in certain sports clubs based on their race.
Football and sepak takraw, for instance, were marked as being only open to Malay boys, while the netball club was limited to just Malay girls.
Basketball and ping pong, on the other hand, could only be taken up by Chinese students, while only students living in the school’s dormitories were able to join the hockey club.
The Vibes reported earlier today that following brickbats, the school eventually updated the list to remove the racial requirements.
Education Minister Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin did not respond to The Vibes’ request for comment.
In today’s statement, Razak said the online application, the Google Form for which went live on Thursday night, has been withdrawn and cancelled for improvement and re-registration.
Parents and guardians were also immediately informed of the error and its subsequent correction through a Telegram group, he said.
“Re-registration will be done in the near future, and students can choose whichever sports and games they are interested in.
“However, this is still subject to the number of registered members that have been set by the school, to ensure all sports clubs have equal students’ involvement in terms of number, race, and religion.”
Razak said a letter of notification on the re-registration process will be issued to the parents tomorrow.
“The statistics on student registration and involvement in the sporting activities will be submitted to the district education office, Johor Education Department, and the Education Ministry.
“Parents can also access these statistics by referring to the school,” he said. – The Vibes, April 17, 2021
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