Cikgu Azizan’s case - education impossible without mutual respect

When my daughter was nine, her classmate got her chest pinched by a male teacher. It became bruised. The teacher defended himself claiming he was merely punishing the girl for not completing her homework. Apparently, this was not the first time the girl had done so.

When the other parents found out that other girls in the class were being punished the same way, we made complaints to the principal. Unfortunately, instead of taking action, the principal defended her teachers, claiming the parents were making baseless accusations.

When my son was 10, one of his teachers started calling him a “pondan” (sissy). This was due to the fact that my son was rather slow in getting his work done. I advised my son to let it go, as teachers, like anyone else, sometimes do things they aren’t supposed to.

But when it happened again, and again, and again, I was forced to bring the matter to the principal. However, instead of taking any action against the teacher, the principal said, “I’m sure he did not mean it in such a way.”

The name calling continued.

As a mother of two, I have been down to my children’s schools gazillion times in the past 13 years, meeting up with discipline teachers and principals, hoping to discuss matters concerning my children. And not once – let me repeat, not once – have they taken my complaints seriously.

Ultimately, as a parent, I have lost confidence in my children’s teachers. And if these teachers lay their hands on my children, and cause them injury, I will not hesitate to find my way to the police station to lodge reports for misconduct.

Having said that, I admit there are teachers in our country who are nothing like my children’s teachers. These group of teachers are dedicated, excellent, kind and wonderful to their students.

They go the extra mile to make sure their students are on the right path and are given fair chance to secure a better future. I have tremendous respect for these teachers.

This brings me to Cikgu Azizan, the teacher in charge of student affairs, who was charged for slapping his 11-year old student at the school assembly area, which resulted in injuries on the child’s left cheek.

The case has made many teachers vouch to not walk the extra mile in order to shape a student into a good human being, if they risk prosecution for doing so.

In fact, my social media feeds are flooded with notifications of teachers requesting parents to take responsibility for their own children, and to stop expecting teachers to nurture someone else’s children.

I do not know Cikgu Azizan. And I do not know what kind of teacher he is. But I have seen and dealt with many teachers to know that a teacher should never be allowed to get physical with students, whatever the reason.

The student who was slapped by Cikgu Azizan apparently committed many disciplinary offences, such as glue sniffing, playing truant and bullying other students. Fine. But pray tell, how does slapping a boy who has such issues solve anything?

And why wasn’t such a serious case referred to the principal of the school?

Down memory lane

Yeah, yeah, I am sure this is the point many readers begin to go down memory lane and claim that they have found the right path in life after being caned, slapped, pinched, punched and beaten by their school teachers during their school years.

Well, good for you. But let us not forget that back in those days, teachers who assaulted and sexually abused their students were almost never heard of either.

The point is, schools today aren’t the same as they were back in those days. Neither are teachers, students nor parents.

Today, it is common to read about teachers hitting students, students hitting teachers, parents hitting teachers, and parents hitting other students.

Where do we draw the line?

If teachers hitting students is justified as a form of education, I am sure it won’t take long for the rest to justify their actions too. Honestly, I would also be very tempted to “educate” some of my children’s former teachers... just saying.

I hope Cikgu Azizan’s case becomes a wake-up call to all teachers, students and parents to start following the standard operating procedure – if a student or a teacher misbehaves, report the matter to the principal’s office. Never take action into your own hands.

There is a reason we have SOPs; without these, there will be chaos.

If a teacher slapping his student is justified, a supervisor slapping subordinates for failing to meet expectations at the workplace could also be justified.

What we need is mutual respect – between supervisors and their subordinates; between teachers and their students. No one can educate anyone without respect.

To the teachers who are whining on social media following this case, my advice to you is, if you cannot handle the job, then quit. Perhaps if you put as much effort into your job as you do whining, more parents would trust you with their children.

To the parents who are too busy building careers that they have no time to spend nurturing and disciplining their own children, my advice to you is, learn about family planning. Do not expect teachers to take over your responsibilities.

To the school management who twist into tai chi poses every time teachers and parents report on the wellbeing of their students and children, please snap out of it. This whole mess could have been avoided if only the school management played a more active role in the fulfilment of their responsibilities.

To the Education Ministry who never do anything worthwhile to restore the faith of teachers and parents… never mind, I do not wish to waste my precious time.

---

FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a growing media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a regular director, a struggling producer, a self-acclaimed photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot.- Mkini