The girls' school principals told the Straits Times they were still trying to convince their parents to cooperate with the government's strict rules on uniform so their children will avoid suspension after the deadline lapses on Friday.

The case of the students, all in their first year of primary school, has become a major issue in multi-ethnic Singapore, which imposes a rigid uniform code designed to promote racial integration in its schools.

Muslim girls are allowed to don the scarves, known as tudung, once they step out of school.

Parents of the children have insisted that wearing headscarves is a requirement under Islamic tradition to protect the girls' modesty.

"We have impressed upon the parents that the uniform is an important means of building unity among the pupils without distinction of race, religion or social status," one of the principals was quoted as saying.

Another principal said that even if the children are suspended they will remain in contact with the parents.

"We will continue trying to talk to the parents. After all, the child has settled in well in school and seems to be getting along fine with her classmates," the principal said.

The education ministry has said that the girls and their parents have undergone weeks of counselling since the students turned up wearing the scarves when the school term started in January.

The girls, who are aged around seven, will be barred from the public school system if they refuse to abide by the regulations.

But suspension, if enforced, will be lifted once the students decide to observe the government's school uniform code, the ministry said.

Officials have been concerned about racial racial harmony since the September 11 attacks on the United States by Islamic extremists, followed by the arrest here in December of 13 Muslims with alleged links to the al-Qaeda extremist network.

The last racial riots in Singapore happened in the 1960s, but race and religion has remained a sensitive issue.

Singapore's population is composed of 77 percent ethnic Chinese, 7.7 percent Indians, and 14 percent Malays, most of whom follow Islam. The rest are Eurasians and other minorities.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong earlier in a dialogue with various ethnic groups this week voiced fears that mistrust could blow up into confrontations between races and religions.

"We must prevent this," he said.

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