Parents want prefect selection report made public

Posted on 30 September 2011 – 05:24am
Last updated on 30 September 2011 – 11:10am

Karen Arukesamy
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

KLANG (Sept 30, 2011): The parents of 17 students from Klang High School who had resigned as prefects earlier this month claiming the school’s prefect selection was “unfair and biased”, want the report submitted to the Education Ministry on the matter to be made public.

The prefects had resigned in protest against alleged favouritism and breach in protocol in the selection process, after seven students were appointed without having to go through the probationary period unlike the rest.

“We are not just upset with the unfair selection process but also with the principal (Huzaimah Bahari), who refuses to meet the parents and students to discuss the matter,” Arul Denis, father of one the aggrieved students said at a press conference at Klang MP Charles Santiago’s office yesterday.

He said several attempts to meet Huzaimah were in vain despite her statement to the press that parents who have complaints should bring them up with the principal.

Arul also said the students have complained they were being “victimised” and “ill-treated” in school because of this issue.

He said another teacher named Nik Aziz tried to intimidate him while he was waiting to meet the principal on Wednesday.

Huzaimah had, in July, attempted to dissolve the school’s non-Muslim religious societies, which caused a furore among students.

Calling for the suspension of Huzaimah, Arul said the aggrieved students have not been approached by the school management since they resigned on Sept 19.

“The principal has to be suspended and the ministry should reopen the investigation report. How can an investigation be done without talking to the ones involved? The school should make the report and the prefect appointment process public,” he said.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong had reportedly said yesterday that the school had followed procedure and the principal has the final decision in the selection process.

“I received a report from the school and after going through it in detail, I could not find any conduct of non-compliance by the school,” he had said.

Charles said the legitimacy of the report submitted to Wee was questionable because the prefects who resigned were not consulted at all.

“The report could be unbalanced and the ministry could have been misled,” he said.

In an immediate response to Charles’s tweet for the school to explain the 17 students’ resignation, Wee said: “Fair request, I think the principal should meet up with parents and explain to them what happened. I will instruct JPN (the state education department) to make arrangements (to make the report public).”