Seri Pristana issue reaches Parliament

The meals in the changing room incident at SK Seri Pristana reached Parliament today with calls for the setting up of a parliamentary select committee to conduct a fresh probe.

Ipoh Barat MP M. Kula Segaran (pic) said he had received written parliamentary replies to his questions relating to the incident.

However, he expressed his dissatisfaction as he missed the chance to ask further questions.

"My first question to the education minister was to ask why he had kept silent on the issue and failed to take any action against the headmaster or the teachers. The teachers were alleged to have bullied and ostracised the daughter of whistleblower Guneswari Kelly," Kula said in a statement.

"The reply I received was that there was no evidence to show that either the school administration or the teachers were engaged in any kind of act which could cause disharmony among the pupils. It also said the allegations of ostracising Guneswari's daughter were not true."

Kula expressed scepticism at the reply he had received, saying he found it difficult to believe that the allegations which had been widely reported were all found to be baseless.

He wondered whether the education ministry was prepared to reveal the full details of the probe it had conducted, including who had been interviewed and the answers given.

"My second question was whether the education ministry had investigated the meals in the changing room incident, and I also wanted to know the results of the probe, if there was one, and who headed the investigations."

Kula said the answer he received stated that the Selangor Education Department had headed the probe. Also, the changing room had been used by Malay, Chinese and Indian pupils to have their meals since March this year as the canteen was unable to accommodate everyone during recess.

"What surprised me when I read the written reply was that even the teachers had been eating in the changing room since March this year! So was it right for such a practice to be put into place in the first place?" he questioned.

"If the education ministry thinks it is all right, then why did the Deputy Education Minister P. Kalamanathan apologise when he visited the school?"

Also, there are allegations that the canteen could have been opened for the use of non-Muslim pupils during the fasting month. There are also allegations that the school administration’s explanation about the canteen being under renovation is untrue.

With so many discrepancies in the explanations provided by school authorities, Kula said a fresh probe should be conducted.

Guneswari had exposed on Facebook how the non-Muslim pupils at Seri Pristana had been made to eat their meals in the shower room during the fasting month.

Later on, Guneswari's 9-year-old daughter was alleged to have been shamed during school assemblies and subjected to constant racial slurs by some teachers and students. Because of that, Guneswari decided to transfer her daughter to a vernacular school.