Jais had issued the letter terminating their service contracts last month.

The group’s lawyer, Muhammad Amin Anuar, acknowledged that Mais and Jais were authorised to take action against the teachers but said such action must be made in accordance with the law.

Mais chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof had previously said Jais had no choice but to terminate the services of all Kafa teachers who refused to be vaccinated after taking into account the safety of students.

Aziz said the action was made in accordance with the relevant rules and legal procedures, for the benefit of all parties. He did not provide details of the law used to terminate the Kafa teachers’ contracts.

Amin, however, challenged Mais to show what law provided for employees to be laid off for not getting vaccinated against Covid-19.

“That’s my question. Please answer. Until then, see you in court,” he told FMT.

He added that Aziz’s reaction implied that Mais and Jais have not changed their decision, despite the government announcing concessions for those who are unvaccinated.

This includes the education ministry’s decision to allow unvaccinated teachers to teach students face-to-face.

According to Amin, there were no provisions in the Federal Constitution that mandated the taking of vaccine injections. Therefore, he said, his clients did not violate any rules or laws that justified their firing.

“There is no legal provision that mandates vaccination. What is your justification for practising such discrimination?” he asked.

Previously, FMT reported that Jais terminated the contracts of 57 Kafa teachers. Of that number, 44 have decided to sue the department.

Their spokesman, Shauqi Hadi Mohd Ja’ais, 26, said he and his colleagues were shocked to receive their termination notices, as their contracts were supposed to end in January 2024.

Before their termination, the group was reportedly suspended for refusing to be vaccinated.

However, Shauqi said they were instructed to attend school as usual, but were not paid an allowance for two months before being given notices of termination.