National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Harry Tan has apologised for "insensitive" remarks about sexual harassment and abuse in schools.
This after an interview he gave on Wednesday which triggered outrage on social media with former students alleging Tan of inappropriate behaviour and being sexist while teaching.
During the interview with Astro Awani, Tan (above) had taken a defensive stance when asked if the NUTP would probe whether sexual harassment and abuse were a problem in schools.
"How is it a widespread problem? Where are the statistics? Where is the data? Who are they talking about? How many schools are involved?
“We have 450,000 teachers in the country, we have 10,000 schools. How many schools are they talking about? Give me the facts," he had said.
He then questioned how many reports had been made over such cases besides the one made by 17-year-old Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam who exposed a teacher for allegedly making a rape joke in class.
Tan's remarks triggered a backlash on social media, with many saying he was insensitive and dismissive of complaints.
In a statement today, he admitted that his response to the issue was insensitive.
“Please accept my sincere apology. Neither I nor the NUTP would ever support any teacher who perpetrates the systemic nature of sexual harassment, rape, and abuse in schools.
“The point I was trying to make was that the majority of the country’s 450,000 teachers are dedicated, hard-working, and caring educators.
“Unfortunately, that did not come across clearly,” he said.
NUTP president Aminuddin Awang echoed Harry's remarks that the union did not support sexual harassment in schools.
However, Aminuddin said it would be unfair to blame all teachers for sexual harassment.
Besides criticism of being dismissive, several individuals claiming to be Tan's former students also accused him of being a problematic teacher.
Twitter user "Jaschintaz" - who said Tan was her STPM English teacher in 1998 - accused him of being sexist.
"During a lesson, we were asked to present on our job ambitions. I said I wanted to study law - note, not be a lawyer, just study law.
"He uttered a sexist statement that angers me to this day: 'Girls should never be lawyers'," she tweeted.
Jaschintaz, however, told Malaysiakini that Tan's alleged remark inspired her to pursue law and she has been in the legal industry for 16 years to date.
She has launched a petition calling for Tan to resign as NUTP secretary-general.
Other former students alleged that Tan had watched lewd videos while teaching as a substitute teacher while another alleged that he had stored lewd videos on a laptop which he then lent to students for a project.
Tan denied any wrongdoing when asked about the allegations. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.