‘Inquiry mind’ student: ‘Claims not true’

SMK Vivekananda denies it is holding back Nicol Paul Miranda's school leaving certificate.

KUALA LUMPUR: A school in Brickfields here today refuted claims that it held back the school leaving certificate of a 17-year-old student who questioned the “celebration of independence” and the tenets in the Rukunegara.
“We will normally give the school leaving certificate when students come to collect their SPM results in March,” senior staff in SMK Vivekananda said.
They were commenting on a FMT report on Wednesday that the student, Nicol Paul Miranda, had complained that the school threatened not to release his school leaving certificate over his remarks. The certificate is a requirement to further his tertiary education.
Nicol, a Form Five student, has since left SMK Vivekananda after his SPM.
The staff also revealed that Nicol was suspended for three days after he used sensitive words about the Rukunegara in his answer sheet for his SPM trial exam.
They said that other disciplinary problems include coming to school without shaving his moustache and beard.
He also liked to wear sweater to school most of the time, they added.

“He wrote his own views and didn’t answer the questions,” said one of the senior staff who allowed FMT to see Nicol’s answer sheets.
Nicol wrote in his answer sheet: “Rukunegara tak guna… (Rukunegara is useless).”
‘Provocative answer’
On claims that teachers almost harmed his mother, one of the staff said that Nicol’s mother came to the school after Nicol was suspended and shouted at the school headmistress and a teacher for about an hour.
“Normally parents come to school to appeal against suspension. Nicol’s mother was shouting very loudly at us,” he said.
According to the staff, the mother told them that her son should be allowed to answer the questions as he wished.
Subsequently, it was reported that the teachers lodged a police report against Nicol.
The report was related to Nicol’s answer in the Civics paper that was construed as “provocations that may harm racial harmony”.
After consulting with the Federal Territory Education Department, the school considered Nicol to have breached the “discipline rule book”.
“Our conscience is clear. We did our jobs as educators,” the school staff said.
They said that on her second visit, Nicol’s mother came with an aide to Lembah Pantai MP, Nurul Izzah Anwar, but was quiet.
The aide reprimanded Nicol for not answering the questions as required, they added.
They also denied that the school lodged a report against Nicol at Bukit Aman.
The staff also alleged that Nicol had tarnished the school’s good name by writing negative remarks about it on his Facebook.
On Jan 16, his Facebook carried this entry:
“Plz (please) spread the word of SMKV’s standard to all who are planning to send their child there…”