'Dept knows about truancy of SK Bihai teachers'

The Education Department in Gua Musang has been informed that teachers at the remote Kelantan school for Orang Asli children, SK Bihai, only taught the children three days a week.

This was made known at a dialogue with the department officers on Nov 1, SK Bihai Parent-Teacher Association deputy chairperson Arom Asir said.

The officers present included Gua Musang district education officer Mohammad Zahari Othman.

“They already know. We raised it in the dialogue and Education Ministry representatives were in attendance,” Arom told Malaysiakini yesterday.

He was responding to Deputy Education Minister Mohd Puad Zarkashi's (right) call to the parents to lodge a report on their complaint so that the ministry could investigate the matter

The dialogue at Dewan Jubli Perak in Kuala Betis, Gua Musang, was called after the Orang Asli parents raised the slapping of four Year Six pupils - all of whom non-Muslim - for not reciting the doa (Islamic prayer) after their lunch.

Arom (left), who contacted Malaysiakini from Kuala Betis - the town nearest to the school that has mobile telephone coverage - said he would discuss Puad's request with the parents.

Another person who attended the dialogue session was Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) commissioner Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah.

“This issue was highlighted during the dialogue when the Ministry of Education apologised to the parents (over the slapping incident). It is already (close to) two months ago,” Sha'ani told Malaysiakini in a text message.

Puad on Tuesday asked the parents to lodge a report to the ministry on their complaint that the children had only three days of school in a week, and he would instruct the Kelantan Education Department to investigate.

“We have to investigate to get to the bottom of things,” Puad said.

It is mandatory for public schools to hold classes five days a week, but the Orang Asli parents in SK Bihai are told that the teachers need to take the other two days to travel to and from their hometowns in Kelantan to the remote school.

Police report made on bribe offer

Prior to this complaint, there had been two different incidents involving the teachers of SK Bihai.

On Oct 24, three Orang Asli parents lodged a police report stating that one of the teachers had slapped their daughters for not reciting the doa, and that this breached the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954.

They claimed that the bribe offer was made on Nov 7 during a meeting of the school's parent-teacher association.

The trio also claimed that that the teachers offered to pay RM250 to the affected pupils and that the teacher who slapped them would pay an additional RM50 to each of them.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has stepped in to investigate the alleged attempted bribe.