‘Teacher called students Hindu Pariah’

Both education department officials and the headmistress of SMK George Town have been accused of attempting to cover up the matter.

GEORGE TOWN: Racism has reared its ugly head in schools again and sources claim that there is an attempt to cover up the latest incident.

As the nation celebrates Teachers’ Day today, FMT however was alerted about a disturbing episode which took place at SMK George Town here.

Last week, a teacher at the secondary school had allegedly scolded a group of Indian Form Five students, calling them “Hindu Pariah.”

The teacher, Sabariah Ramli in her late 30s, was also accused of deliberately giving high demerit points to the students during the incident on May 9.

She also allegedly ticked off two other Indian Muslim boys for befriending the Indian students.

Sources claimed that education authorities and headmistress Farah Shikh Abd Rahman attempted to cover up the matter and defended the teacher when confronted by parents of the affected students.

A 16-year-old student lodged a police report last Friday on the matter while an official complaint was also filed by the students with the school authorities.

However, the student later retracted the report, with sources claiming that the headmistress had threatned the student’s father that his son would have a black mark in his school leaving certificate if the report was not withdrawn.

According to the police report, the students were talking in class after an examination when the teacher shouted at them.

She had allegedly singled out the group of Indian students and told them: “Hei Hindu diam (Hindu shut up).” Following this, she called them “Hindu Pariah.”

The teacher also allegedly tampered with the students demerit points after obtaining their signatures on originally lighter demerit points.

One of the student’s demerit points was visibly modified from 10 to 20 while another was modified from 15 to 25.

Sources said that demerit points above 20 could lead to a student’s dismissal but such heavy demerit points were usually given only for criminal acts such as drug abuse, stealing or gang-related activities.

FMT learnt that the headmistress defended the teacher’s behaviour claiming that Sabariah might have over-reacted due to work stress.

‘Students warned with disciplinary action’

Seri Delima assemblyman RSN Rayer, who received a report on the incident, had lodged a complaint with the state education department to resolve the controversy as soon as possible.

“I have told the department to transfer out the teacher, failing which I will call for a meeting with representatives of the school parents-teachers association,” he said.

Following Rayer’s complaint, a team of education officials came to the school in Jalan Batu Lanchang yesterday and recorded statements from the affected students, witnesses and teachers.

Sources claimed that the officials, comprising Mohd Raffie Bachik, Huzaid Ibrahim and Daud Shaari, warned the students and witnesses to “keep their mouth shut” over the incident.

The students were warned of dire consequences if they were to disseminate any information on the issue to outsiders, including their parents.

Some six students, which included those of other races, who gave statements to the officials, had also claimed that the ministry-commissioned investigators threatened them with severe disciplinary action.

Some of them, said sources, were warned that they would be barred from sitting for the SPM examination this year.

Farah, who became the school’s headmistress some four years ago, was also accused of uttering derogatory remarks against Indian teachers and parents previously.

When contacted on the latest incident, Farah told FMT to refer to state education director Ahmad Tarmizi Kamaruddin.

Ahmad Tarmizi, however, could not be reached despite numerous phone calls and text messages.

Meanwhile, the teacher had also lodged a police report yesterday claiming that she had been threatened with harm by four school students.

Last March, Nibong Tebal’s SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman headmaster Ng Tong Koang, 56, allegedly used the word “pariah” to scold parents of schoolchildren for making a prohibited U-Turn at a nearby traffic light. He later apologised.

The word “pariah”, considered derogatory to Indians, was central to the recent Interlok novel controversy.

The novel, which contained such references to the Indian community, was initially earmarked to be used for the Malay literature subject for students but was later revoked after strong objections.