Angry parents lodge report against HM

By Stephanie Sta Maria - Free Malaysia Today

SHAH ALAM: The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the Ladang Glenmarie Tamil school has lodged a report against the school's headmaster over his rude and dictatorial manner.

Matters came to a head when a confrontation broke out between parents and the headmaster S Manogaran over his refusal to allow parents to enter the school grounds.

PTA head N Nadarajan, accompanied by parent R Susila, lodged a report against the headmaster at the District Education Office here, listing out the various complaints from parents.

“There was no problem until Manogaran was transferred here a year ago,” said Susila. “He gives all sorts of excuses to bar us from entering the school compound. That's is why the fight happened.”

Susila said parents wanted to enter the school to give home-cooked food to their children. She alleged that the quality of the canteen food was stale and unfit for consumption.

“How can the school serve such food to the children?”she asked. “We complained to the headmaster and since then, he banned us from coming into the school.”

She related another incident in which, after receiving a verbal complaint about the canteen food from an upset parent, the senior assistant of the school retorted: “Well, your child hasn't died, right?”

Susila also alleged that Manogaran once ordered a 10-year-old boy to clean a toilet cubicle before he (Manogaran) had wanted to use it.

“The boy's shoes and clothes were soaking wet,” she claimed. “These are the things that are happening at this school. And the teachers warned the students not to tell their parents.”

“When we confronted Manogaran, he told us that he is the headmaster and everything lies in his hands. It's a small school but he behaves like it's an international college!”

Problematic parents

When contacted, Manogaran denied that a “fight” had taken place and was perplexed as to why such a report had been made.

“But let them make a report if they want,” he told FMT. “These parents are always creating problems. This school is very transparent and I'm not the least bit concerned.”

However, he added that he would take legal action if investigations showed that the allegations are baseless and that the school already has a lawyer in anticipation of such incidents.