Wee: Resolve school prefects problem

ANDREW SAGAYAM

Friday, September 30th, 2011 11:25:00  The malay mail

KLANG: The Education Ministry has directed the Selangor education department to end the stalemate between the Klang High School and the parents of the (now 17) prefects who resigned, as they claimed the appointments of new prefects did not follow a timehonoured procedure and were tinged with favoritism.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong told The Malay Mail that if the parents are not happy with the conduct of the school over the issue, they should meet the Selangor education department director Abdullah Mad Yunus.

“I have also instructed Abdullah to advise the headmistress to have a meeting with the parents. I hope the meeting can resolve the whole issue,” added Wee yesterday.

Meanwhile, Klang MP Charles Santiago (pic) said he will raise the matter in Parliament.

Santiago said he made the decision following an earlier statement by Wee on Wednesday that he did not find any wrongdoing by the school over the appointment of prefects despite not going through the usual probation period set by the school.

“I feel Wee and the school are sweeping the matter under the carpet. First, the school had misled Wee in their report regarding the appointment of new prefects and secondly he openly said he did not find anything wrong with the school over the selection of seven prefects who are newbies,” said Santiago yesterday at the Klang DAP headquarters here.

“The seven students bypassed standard operating procedure of a 14-week probation period before being confirmed as prefects, so how can they say there is no misconduct?”

Santiago also called for the suspension of the school’s headmistress, Huzaimah Bahari, pending the investigation by the Education Ministry.

“We believe she was the one who compiled the report and that she did not explain to the Ministry about what really happened. We are urging the Ministry to start a fresh probe and suspend her for the time being,” he said, adding that one more prefect had stepped down on Wednesday bringing the total to 17 who resigned as prefects.

Santiago said he is appalled by the attitude of the headmistress who refused to see parents or students regarding the matter and reminded schools they have a duty to explain to parents who have enqueries over any issue concerning their children.

One of the affected parents present at Santiago’s press conference, Arul Denis, claimed he and his lawyer went to the school on Wednesday to meet Huzaimah to discuss the issue but was rudely told to leave the school grounds.

“My son is one of the students affected and I went to see the headmistress to discuss the matter but was stopped by a teacher with the name tag of Nik Aziz, outside her office. He questioned why we were there and ordered us to leave,” said Arul, adding he was very disappointed with the school’s handling of the matter.

On Monday, The Paper That Cares front-paged the resignation of an initial 16 Klang High School prefects over what they claimed was a breach of protocol and bias in the appointment of new prefects.

The appointment of a newly-appointed Form Four prefect as head boy among others, triggered the stepping down on Sept 19 — just before the appointment ceremony.

Parents of these students claimed favouritism and breach of procedures as unlike their predecessors, the new prefects did not undergo the 14-week probationary period.

READ: ‘HM followed procedure’