Compiled by C. ARUNO, ALIZA SHAH and R. ARAVINTHAN

       PARENTS in Puchong are up in arms after learning that a Tamil school in the area had resorted to conducting art classes in Bahasa Malaysia, Malaysia Nanban reported.

       The Pertubuhan Tamil Tesiyam Malaysia said they had contacted the school headmaster for clarification.

       Tamil Tesiyam deputy president Tamilthiran said the headmaster explained that he had obtained approval from the district education office to allow the Islamic subject teacher to give art lessons in Malay.

       “He explained why this move was acceptable – evaluation sheets for the subject is in Bahasa Malaysia. This shows a lackadaisical attitude on the headmaster’s part,” said Tamilthiran.

       While many teaching aids are provided in Malay for Tamil schools, most schools take the effort to translate them to Tamil, he pointed out.

       The association contacted the Petaling Perdana district education office which clarified that it allowed the move because there was no other teacher available for the subject.

       The officer also dismissed the association’s concerns, saying that having the lessons in Bahasa Malaysia was better than not having classes at all, Tamilthiran said.

       “Pupils are required to answer questions in Tamil when sitting for tests and exams, so how is it acceptable to teach the lessons in another language?” he asked.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.