Truant teacher case 'worst scandal of my career' - whistleblower

 

A former SMK Taun Gusi teacher described the absentee teacher case at the school as the worst scandal of her career, as it was protected by those in power.

Nurhaizah Ejab said since becoming a teacher, the issue of English teacher Mohd Jainal Jamrin, who a former student sued for allegedly failing to teach English eight years ago, was the first and worst scandal she encountered.

“It was the worst because it involved those called teachers and there was a massive cover-up by the Education Ministry, the State Education Department, the District Education Office, and the school itself,” she explained while answering questions from the plaintiff's lawyer Shireen Sikayun at the Kota Kinabalu High Court this afternoon.

“All these individuals are obsessed with maintaining their image and reputation; they are prepared to collude and deceive just to protect their positions and reputations.”

Nurhaizah also said that everyone involved, from the ministry level to the school, was under pressure once the case was filed in court.

At the ministry level, the director-general at that time was Amin Senin, who was the former principal of SMK Taun Gusi.

The Sabah state education director in 2015 was Jame Alip, a former principal at the same school, until 2018 when Maimunah Suhaibul, also a former teacher at SMK Taun Gusi, took over.

Protect school image

According to Nurhaizah, those involved wanted to protect the image of the school where they had served. Moreover, Jame, for example, knew about Jainal's absenteeism while he was the school’s principal.

Nurhaizah added that during the investigation after the case was filed, she was called to the State Education Department’s office and interviewed by a special officer from the director-general of education.

After completing a statement about all matters concerning the 2015 case addressed to the State Education Department’s Integrity Unit, the officer purportedly said she would send the evidence to a government counsel.

However, Nurhaizah testified that they never sent her statement on behalf of the defendant.

“Moreover, I was excluded from the final State Education Department meeting where they were finalising all the evidence documents,” added Nurhaizah.

The plaintiff Siti Nafirah Siman was represented by her lawyer Shireen Sikayun, while senior federal counsel Jesseca Daimis and federal counsel Mohd Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir represented the defendant.

The defendants in the case are Jainal, SMK Taun Gusi Principal Suid Hanapi, SMK Taun Gusi, the Kota Belud district education officer, the state education director, the director general of education, the education minister and the federal government.

The truancy case trial at the Kota Kinabalu High Court continues before judge Ismail Brahim on June 27. - Mkini