This was the opinion of two teachers who spoke to FMT after the teacher, Azizan Manap, was given a discharge not amounting to acquittal by the Seremban Magistrate’s Court today.

Magistrate Mohd Zaki Abdul Rahman also ordered the return of the RM500 bail.

Azizan was charged with voluntarily causing hurt to the student at Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Semarak, Nilai, on April 6.

The charge carries a jail sentence of up to a year, RM2,000 fine or both.

Azizan turned up in court accompanied by about 200 supporters, many of whom were teachers, who had come in a show of solidarity.

A teacher with Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Luak in Miri, Sarawak, Bahari Morshidi, was saddened by the experience of Azizan.

“This case will have a serious effect on us teachers. After this, how will teachers discipline their students?

“Surely they will not dare to…just teach, not for us to educate,” he said at the Seremban courthouse.

A counsellor in his school, Bahari said disciplinary cases would usually be settled through discussions between the teachers and parents.

Another teacher, Paezah Hamzah, from Sekolah Menengah Teknik Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban, questioned whether teachers should now let their students continue committing mistakes without taking any action.

She said there was a great difference in the behaviour of present day students compared to the past.

“We heard that this particular student had committed a lot of wrongdoings, so the teacher could not possibly keep on closing his eyes,” she added.

Retired teacher Mohamad Musip said parents in the past did not hinder teachers from punishing their children “so long as we didn’t break any bone”.

However, teachers nowadays were faced with great challenges in adapting to the thinking and actions of their students and parents.