End discrimination, says parent after controversial SPM workshop in JB

 

The education ministry said the workshop was not discriminatory and was intended for all students.

PETALING JAYA: The parent of a student who was among those excluded from a Johor Bahru school’s SPM workshop for Muslim students has called for an end to such discriminatory practices.

Speaking to FMT on condition of anonymity, the parent of the SMK Infant Jesus Convent student noted that many of the comments on social media about the viral issue had a common theme.

“If you look at one commonality in the comment sections of most news portals, many people are saying ‘Oh, these kinds of things always happen’,” she said.

“But does that mean it’s all right? Does that mean we should keep quiet? When people like me voice it out, we are persecuted for it.”

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FMT attempted to reach out to other affected parents, but most chose not to comment as they were afraid of the potential consequences on their children ahead of the SPM examination which starts on Jan 30.

“I’m worried about the repercussions my daughter might face as the SPM is soon,” said one parent. “I’m upset at the injustice, but this isn’t something new.”

In a Twitter thread on Jan 23, social media user @sangria200 posted a series of screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation in a school chat group where parents alleged that the school had discriminated against non-Muslim students by holding the SPM workshop only for Muslim students at a hotel on Jan 19 and 20.

In response, the education ministry said the workshop was not discriminatory and was intended for all the students.

The ministry said the workshop was broken up into different sessions to avoid disrupting the festivities for students celebrating Chinese New Year, adding that classes for non-Muslims would be held today and tomorrow at the same hotel.

The ministry also said the workshop was organised with the cooperation of the parent-teacher association (PTA), other parents, as well as private stakeholders.

Despite the claims of the ministry and the principal that the workshop was only for poorly performing Muslim students, it is understood that Muslim students who performed well had also attended the two-day workshop.

The first parent said that during a meeting with the school’s principal, the Johor education department, the chairman of the PTA and members of the PTA yesterday, she was “left with no choice” but to refute claims that most parents were aware of the Muslim-only workshop.

She also said the principal’s explanation during the meeting and the “story” she gave in the WhatsApp chat group, did not match.

In the chat group, the principal said that only Muslim students who failed or did not do well in their studies attended the workshop, adding that the workshop was organised as the school was concerned about the number of Malay students who had underperformed.

“But they never gave us a number for how many non-Malay students failed and they never mentioned that another workshop would be held,” said the parent.

When contacted, the school’s principal, Ande Noor Munawarah Bachok, chose not to comment for this story as she said the education ministry had already released a statement on the matter.

Johor education department director Said Daimon also withheld comment when contacted. - FMT