'The students are going to look down on us ... how are we going to face them now that we have failed our test,' said a school headmistress who did not want to be named. 'This is really embarrassing.'

The test consisted of two objective papers on government structure, teaching methods, the legal system and civil service rules. The results were to be used for promotion and wage rises.

Newspapers at the weekend splashed the results across front pages, calling it a national shame.

'It is stupid to release the results,' the headmistress said. 'I don't know of anybody who passed ... we are all angry and frustrated.'

Officials said only 1,170 teachers passed the test.

'Does this mean only 1,170 teachers are competent to teach?' said N. Siva Subramaniam, the executive secretary of the National Union of the Teaching Profession. 'Teachers are disappointed and uninspired to work.'

Teachers' unions, who have asked to see Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, questioned the credibility of the examiners and criticised the passing mark as a 'ridiculous high' of 80 out of 100.

Officials and parents often complain that teaching standards have fallen in recent years.

The government was blamed for lowering education standards as part of an affirmative-action programme to help Malays catch up with better-off non-Malays.

However, this and other reasons - lower standards, poor discipline, truancy, drugs and racism - drove non-Muslim parents to send their children to Chinese and Tamil schools. Muslim parents did the same, sending their children to Islamic schools.

The government has taken major steps to stop the 'hollowing-out' of national schools by upgrading facilities, hiring foreign teachers, encouraging meritocracy and improving teaching standards. To attract Muslims, the schools now also teach Islam and the Arabic language.