Supporters of the 'Tiada Guru' campaign highlighting alleged errant educators in Sabah have urged the government to provide whistleblower protection for Nurhaizah Ejab.
The call for the former teacher’s protection comes after she testified in a colleague's repeated truancy case.
Agora Society member, Esther Sinirisan Chong also called for similar protection to be provided to all other whistleblowing public servants.
"The government must immediately provide full whistleblower protection to Nurhaizah and the three plaintiffs in the court case.
“She had risked her security, family secrecy, and reputation just to make sure that there’s accountability for Malaysians.
“She has set a precedent for us to be brave,” Esther told a press conference at Suara Rakyat Malaysia’s (SUARAM) office in Petaling Jaya today.
Testify again
She notes that Nurhaizah will again be summoned to testify in a civil suit filed by former SMK Taun Gusi and Kota Belud students.
In two separate lawsuits, four students named their Form 4 English teacher Mohd Jainal Jamran, the school principal Suid Hanapi, the education director-general, the education minister and the government as defendants.
The first lawsuit was filed by former SMK Taun Gusi student Siti Nafirah Siman in 2018, while the second case was filed in 2020.
The second lawsuit was filed by three students - Rusiah Sabdarin, Nur Natasha Allisya Hamali and Calvina Angayung, who are now 21 years old - against the same defendants.
The trio said Jainal did not turn up to teach for several months in 2017, while the other defendants did not take reasonable action despite being notified of his absence.
In January, Nurhaizah testified that her complaints and report on the errant teacher had fallen on deaf ears in 2015.
Different strategy
So when the issue recurred with the same teacher in 2017, she took a different strategy that included making 80 time-stamped video recordings of the class when her colleague was absent.
Nurhaizah also confirmed that she had in 2015 received threats to her safety after she raised the issue of her colleague's truancy.
Esther asserted that the matter at hand is not only about justice and oppression towards students but also about the country’s education structure.
“Is this happening because of the teacher’s attitude? Or a problem with the education system that disallows students to obtain a fair education as well as insufficient to protect teachers who wish to make such revelations?
“We are here to show solidarity to students and teachers who are brave to fight for their own rights and to obtain a fair education.”
She also called on politicians and MPs to support a whistleblower protection law that is independent of the executive.
“We had previously reached out to politicians, but the feedback that we received was not encouraging.
“But we will still try to highlight this issue. It would be great if the Education Ministry and other MPs can take up this issue to discuss it in the Parliament,” she adds.
Establish ombudsman
Meanwhile, SUARAM programme coordinator Amirah Haziqah called for the establishment of a public ombudsman to eradicate abuse of power and corruption in the education system.
Amirah expressed disappointment that the independent investigations were “wholly insufficient”.
“Today’s system is not interested in the rule of law. A new method of independent enforcement is the only way.
“Enough with ‘internal investigations and discipline’!
“Without independent enforcement, Malaysia mocks its victims.” - Mkini
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