Monday January 22, 2007 Nik Aziz sets terms for school aid
TUMPAT: Kelantan will not reject any federal offer to help its state- run community schools if it continues to have a say in recruiting the teachers and deciding on the curriculum. Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said there must be "some conditions" to accepting any Education Ministry grants for these sekolah agama rakyat or SARs. Kelantan sees a takeover by the ministry as a possible interference of the state's ambitious religious teaching programme. The ministry, on the other hand, sees the schools as a drawback in the national scheme of things because of their alleged limited infrastructure and low staff salaries. Nik Aziz, adamant not to surrender the schools to federal control, claimed it would not be compatible with the secular-style management of the Barisan Nasional government. "Their man-made laws are changing all the time whereas we advocate laws from the Quran," he told reporters after opening a student hostel at the Al-Rahmaniah religious school in Neting near here yesterday. The mentri besar claimed that the consequences of the ministry's policies were increased social ills and crime, adding that man-made laws had not benefited the masses. "We will accept aid provided the teachers and curriculum still come under the YIK (Kelantan Islamic Foundation)." Asked about state muftis alleged to be politically influenced, Nik Aziz said such views were typically from the West. He said politics and Islam had always existed together, pointing out that Prophet Muhammad was a governor of a Muslim state. The mentri besar said the United States, unable to see that Islam and politics go hand in hand, had refused to recognise the Hamas group which won the Palestinian general election. He added that the muftis have their own reasons for speaking their minds.//thestar
