The group of prominent civil servants said although the matter touched on racial sensitivities, it was an issue which must be discussed openly.

This is to ascertain whether the teacher was acting based on a ruling by the education ministry or whether she was abusing her authority to take it upon herself to act on her personal religious beliefs.

“The public will be interested to know whether religious extremism among teachers in schools is accepted or swept under the carpet by the education ministry and the parent- teacher associations (PTAs),” it said in a statement.

Continued ethnic and religious intolerance, it added, would not make government schools the first choice for parents.

G25 said from its previous meetings with senior ministry officials, they had given assurances that they would not tolerate such abuse of power in schools.

These officials also assured the group that the school’s PTA would take action against teachers involved in such incidents.

“We would like the education authorities to explain in public how this matter is being handled,” the statement said.

Earlier today, FMT reported that a Form 1 student claimed that she was told by a senior teacher to kneel with her hands up during school assembly on Tuesday as punishment for wearing shoes with velcro straps.

She also claimed her blessed kayiru, or holy string, was cut.

The student, 13, who lodged a report at the Tasek Gelugor police station, said she was called out by the teacher for wearing a non-standard pair of shoes.

Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow has called on the state education department to investigate the student’s claim.