MIC bureau: 'Racist' teacher issue not solved

Source : Malaysiakini MIC bureau: 'Racist' teacher issue not solved

Aug 23, 08 3:04pm

MIC Youth education bureau has begged to differ with the Education Ministry that the issue involving a teacher who hurled racial abuses against her Indian students has been resolved. MCPX Bureau chief M Saravanan voiced his dissatisfaction that no stern action had been taken against the 35-year-old teacher despite numerous calls to do so from various quarters. “Parents, MIC and NGOs are unhappy with this and want the ministry to take severe action against the teacher. Failure to do so will only cause more anger,” he told Malaysiakini yesterday. Saravanan was responding to education director-general Alimuddin Mohd Dom who was quoted as saying in the Star on Thursday that the teacher had been given an administrative warning and transferred to another school. He said all parties agreed that the issue had been resolved and hoped that they would not raise the issue again. “The Kuala Langat district education office also obtained the assistance of Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Senator T Murugiah on Aug 5 to set up a meeting between the parents and teachers,” he added. Alimuddin also revealed that the teacher was placed temporarily in the Selangor education department’s counselling unit. ‘Everybody knows she was wrong’ Meanwhile, Saravanan said this was not an isolated incident and therefore the action taken must serve as a lesson for other teachers not to repeat the offence. “Everybody knows the teacher committed a serious offence, but even under such circumstances no serious action has been taken,” he said, expressing both disappointment and bewilderment. Saravanan stressed that the education bureau will continue to raise this issue if the ministry did not act accordingly. He also said that Murugiah had told a recent meeting on the issue that the transfer was only a temporary measure and a more serious punishment would be meted out. “However, this has not happened,” he said, adding that the deputy minister should have pursued this matter further. Early this month, two students from SMK Telok Panglima Garang in Kuala Langat filed police reports against the teacher. They revealed that the teacher had called Indian students 'keling pariah', 'Negro' and 'black monkeys', among other derogatory names. In their reports, the Form Four and Form Five students said the teacher also told students during class that 'Indians came from dogs', Indians are 'children of prostitutes' and the community is 'stupid'. She also supposedly stated that the community's youths 'do not have testicles', 'always menstruate' and indulge in 'thuggery and theft'. MIC leaders, including its president S Samy Vellu, and various NGOs had expressed dissatisfaction with the ministry and called for stern action to be taken against the teacher. A MIC deputy minister had also suggested that the teacher be sacked.