Charles Santiago

Parents want prefect selection report made public
Wee: Resolve school prefects problem
“THE Klang High School is in crisis mode as 17 prefects resigned en masse following what they claim is a breach of protocol and bias in the appointment of new prefects.”
“The School Had a Form Four Student Been Made Head Prefect.”
Orang Yang Berasal Dari Klang Harus Mengundi Di Ulu Langat?
Mendaftar sebagai Pengundi melalui DAP

Parents want prefect selection report made public

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 03:14 AM PDT

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)."

Wee: Resolve school prefects problem

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 03:12 AM PDT

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’