The Penang Education Department will not take action against the 11 schoolchildren who took part in the climate change protest in Bayan Baru last week.
When contacted, Penang State Education Department deputy director Abdul Rashid Abdul Samad said the school was asked to submit a report on the matter and there was "no issue".
He said no action would be taken against the children or their school.
"We also encourage students to get involved (in awareness about green activities)," he told Malaysiakini.
Abdul Rashid was responding to a statement by Penang councillor Vino Dini Chandragason who demanded both the children and their school, SJK Tamil Sungai Ara, to be probed by the authorities for attending the protest organised by Klimate Utara Malaysia (Kaum) and Klima Utara Malaysia (Kamy).
Vino was upset that the children joined the protest and displayed banners condemning the Penang Transport Master Plan and south reclamation project.
SJK Tamil Ara school principal Sangga Sinnaya said, "So far, there is no action taken against us or the school children".
"We have been asked to submit a report on the matter and we did that.
"It is not a probe. That is the state education department's standard operating procedure when a complaint is made.
"The parents (of the children) were also aware of their activities and no complaints were lodged," he added.
Meanwhile, Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy said the state education department cannot take action against the kids for joining the protest.
However, he said if teachers were involved, then they should be questioned.
"But since the episode was on a weekend, then the children were under the responsibility of parents," said Ramasamy, who is the state exco for economic planning, eductation and human resources, and science, technology and innovation.
The protest took place after 5pm on Friday, May 24.
"The problem is not with the kid,s but (they were) unsuspectingly used by some NGOs for their function.
"I don’t think that the students were against the development project but (were attending) an environmental event that dovetailed into a kind of protest," Ramasamy said.
Ramasamy, who is currently in Mongolia, said he would be meeting with the state education department on the matter once he returns.
Vino, who made her remarks last Friday, has since been slammed by several quarters for suggesting that police action be taken against innocent children.
She was reminded that the gathering was part of the Global Climate Strike, a movement initiated by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg (above). - Mkini
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