Parents hold protest over racial brawls at school

About 100 demand answers over claims of abuse and fighting among schoolboys.

BUTTERWORTH: About a hundred parents held a protest gathering outside SMK Tasek Mutiara in Simpang Ampat here yesterday about claims of abuse and fighting among the schoolboys.

They demanded answers from the school authorities on why their children had been repeatedly beaten by a group of students in the school.

The parents are also upset with the attitude of the school principal who had purportedly blamed the students who were beaten, according to NST Online.

Raman Ramasamy, 43, a father of a Form Three pupil, said his son had been “kicked out” of the school after complaining he had been beaten by the group of boys.

“Instead of being impartial and putting a stop to the fights, the teachers had instead blamed the victims and told them to behave and even kicked some students out,” he said.

The parents dispersed at about 2pm after being refused entry into the school, the report said.

Yesterday, the MP for Batu Kawan and state assemblyman for Perai, P Ramasamy of the DAP, had demanded that the racially-charged fights be investigated immediately. He said the school’s headmistress and her senior assistant were purported to have stoked racial tension with remarks during the school assembly after the fights took place.

NST Online quoted state education director Shaari Osman as saying that a meeting between the parents and teachers would take place at the school on April 6 to discuss the issue and come to an amicable solution.

He said there would also be an internal investigation on claims of racism, the report said.