Headmaster ducks meeting parents

An attempt by parents and citizens to confront the principal of SK Seri Pristana in Sungai Buloh seeking an explanation for forcing their children to take meals in shower room proves futile.

PETALING JAYA : The headmaster of SK Seri Pristana in Sungai Buloh today ducked meeting a group of 20 people who wanted to know why he lied to the  press about renovation works in the school.

The group engaged in a verbal tirade with the police and security personnel manning the main gate when they were not allowed to see the headmaster, Mohd Nasir Mohd Noor.

Photos of non-Muslim children eating on makeshift tables set up in the school’s shower room, next to the toilets, went viral on the net when a parent published photos of it, generating a storm of protests.

Mohd Nasir told the media that the school’s canteen was undergoing renovation works and thus had little choice but to provide the shower room area for them to take their meals.

One of the uploaded photos showed the canteen cordoned off with red plastic tape but when FMT visited the school this morning, the red tape had been removed and there was no renovation going on.

Mohd Nasir also told the media the shower room has been used as a make shift canteen since March this year due to space constraints in the canteen proper.

The parents, however, claimed this was untrue as none of their children had complained about being made to take their meals in the shower room next to the toilets.

J Puspalatha, 30, whose daughter is enrolled in the school, alleged that several students were questioned by a teacher the day after photos of them eating in a shower room went viral on the internet.

“The teacher asked the students if their parents had taken the photos. Is that necessary?” she asked. “They are only children, they don’t know what’s going on. Why question them?”

The parent of a standard two child, known only as Nitha, denied allegations that the canteen was closed because of renovation work.

“They were only changing the wooden doors of the teachers’ canteen to glass doors, which is adjacent to the students canteen. Why the need to cordon off the students canteen?” asked Nitha.

“The doors were only changed yesterday which probably took several hours, so they were lying when they said renovation works started in March,” she added.

“My child goes to that school and I’ve not heard her complain about being made to take meals until July 12,” she said. “The school is just trying to cover up for their mistake now.”

Kamalanathan: ‘Issue resolved’

The group was finally allowed into the school when Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan arrived at the school at 1.30pm, made a lighting tour and quickly declared the matter solved.

“Nasir has apologised and we have accepted it, but the ministry will have to decide on what action to take against him, rest assured, we will do what is necessary,” he said.

“I hope people will not turn this into a racial issue, it has been resolved and I promise something like this will not happen again,” he added.

He also donated RM10,000 to the school to extend its canteen and promised that the ministry will work towards providing more funds for upgrading purposes.

“I will suggest to the ministry to provide more funds for SK Seri Pristana for upgrading purposes. I will start the ball rolling by giving them a donation of RM10,000,” he said.

Meanwhile, MIC Youth Chief T Mohan said that the headmaster and the school management’s action was unforgivable, and providing students the shower next the toilet should not have been an option in the first place.

“This is an outrage. They shouldn’t have put the students there in the first place, there is no excuse for such actions. We urge the Ministry of Education to take stern action on those responsible,” he said.

“MIC will definitely pursue the matter, we will lodge a police report against the school’s headmaster and the school management. Disciplinary action must be meted out,” he added.

SK Seri Pristana has an enrollment of over 1,300 students of which 28 are non-Muslims (23 Indians and five Chinese).