President of the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP), Kamarozaman Abdul Razak lamented that parents did not seem to support the role of schools and teachers in educating and nurturing their children.
“It is not easy to discipline a class full of students and parents now prefer to listen to only what their children say without listening to what the teachers have to say over discipline issues concerning their children,” he said.
He said parents should act rationally by first meeting with the school authority and the teacher concerned, and enquire what problems their children may be facing in school, instead of acting on their emotions and escalating the issue by lodging police reports.
“These are issues where parents and teachers can sit down and talk it out. But it seems like parents prefer to go to the authorities straight away.”
Kamarozaman’s comments came after a religious teacher Mohd Zaid Yob was charged yesterday at the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court for allegedly assaulting a 12-year-old student by pulling his nose.
Zaid was accused of committing the offence at a primary school in Taman Sri Rampai, Wangsa Maju on Aug 16.
The court set bail for Zaid at RM1,500 with a surety and fixed Sept 29 for case mention.
The NUTP released a statement on the issue yesterday, urging the public and authorities to let teachers do their job professionally in handling students’ discipline problems and not take them to court for actions taken against students.
Kamarozaman speculated on the effect a jail term might have on the teacher if he was convicted of the alleged assault.
“The child may feel ‘guilty’ for complaining about his teacher and putting him behind bars, while the teacher may hold a grudge against the child for what he did,” Kamarozaman said, adding that this issue would leave a negative impact on all concerned – parents, children and teachers.
Kamarozaman also called on fellow teachers to refrain from physically punishing problematic students anymore. He suggested that they arrange for the students to be suspended or expelled instead.
“The standard operating procedure is that the school expel such students if they do not listen and continue to cause trouble in school on three occasions,” he said.
Earlier this year, a Mathematics teacher, Siti Noorhidayani Mohd Salamun, was accused of causing hurt to a Standard Three student by pinching the student’s ear.