Poked on the forehead with a pen for not doing classwork

A kindergarten operator alleges that a teacher poked her son's forehead with a pen and left a scar and also refused to apologise to her.

PETALING JAYA: A teacher who could not control his anger poked the forehead of a pupil with a pen because he did not complete his classwork, the boy’s parent alleged today.

Relating the incident which happened on Monday, SA Bibi Yanem, 45, said her son, S Timothy Deeran, and his classmates in Year 4 Semangat, Sekolah Kebangsaan Puchong Jaya, were told to copy a dictation by their Malay language teacher, Islahuddin Ibrahim.

“However, my son missed a few words from the dictation and could not complete his work,” said Bibi Yanem, a kindergarten operator.

Unable to pass up the work when instructed by the teacher, Bibi Yanem said her son was then called up to the front of the class by Islahuddin .

“When he checked my son’s work and saw it incomplete, Islahuddin took his pen and poked and scratched my son’s forehead,” claimed Bibi Yanem.

Bibi Yanem also alleged that this left a scar on his forehead.

Angered by the incident,  Bibi Yanem and her husband M Shegar then went to the school at about 8am yesterday and reported the matter to the school principal, Abdul Rahman Mansor.

After hearing her grievances, Rahman then called her son and Islahuddin to his office to get to the bottom of the matter.

In the meeting, Bibi Yanem claimed Islahuddin said that he was unable to control his rage when he saw Timothy’s work was not done.

“But I told him if you have no patience, then you should not be a teacher,” she said.

Islahuddin then promised the parents that he would issue a written letter of apology to them in a few hours time.

However, when Bibi Yanem went back to the school at  about 11am, Islahuddin refused to give her the letter.

“Islahuddin arrogantly told me in the staff room  that it was against his ethics to write such a letter. He even challenged me to take action against him,” she said.

Bibi Yanem told Rahman what had transpired but claimed the principal merely kept mum on the matter.

“He didn’t object when I told him that I will take this matter to the media,” said Bibi Yanem.

On whether she had reported the incident to the district education office, Bibi Yanem said she had not done so yet but had lodged a report at the Puchong Jaya police station.

When contacted, the school administration was unable to comment on the matter as Rahman had left his office.