Education Minister II Idris Jusoh yesterday asked members of the public to let slide the issue of pupils made to have their recess in a shower room in SK Seri Pristana.
"Malaysia is a multiracial country so we should be a forgiving society.
"If
a mistake is made, we solve it the Malaysian way, instead of blowing
things up to the extent that it does not help anyone... We must learn to
forgive and forget," Idris (right) told Bahasa Malaysia daily Berita Harian.Malaysians are very forgiving people but Idris Jusoh should know there are reasons why the SK Seri Pristana affair has not and cannot come to a closure.
He should also know that the issue has not ended and will not because there are certain parties that are bent on "fuelling the issue further", as he himself alleged.
The whole issue has exploded with the meals in the shower room incident, which could have been resolved if the Education Ministry had immediately conducted a full investigation and published its findings.
But the Education Ministry failed to do this.
Then, when allegations surfaced that the headmaster took photographs of the pupils, that teachers and pupils harassed the non-Muslim pupils whose faces appeared in photographs of children having their meals in the shower room that had gone viral in the social media, the Education Ministry again did nothing.
Education Minister Muhyiddin has chosen to remain silent till today, despite my asking him whether he was heartless or powerless, or both, on this issue.
Ministry did not heed my call
On JuIy 31, I had called for a top Education Ministry officer to be sent to the school to address the morning assembly and to send the message that no bullying and intimidation of students would be allowed. However, the ministry did not take heed of my call.
So can the ministry blame the parents and concerned parties from continuing to highlight their plight in the media?
Till today, even the headmaster has not even shown any sign of remorse or tendered an open, sincere apology.So, is it fair for Idris to ask the parents and members of the public just to forgive and forget when the Education Ministry failed to deal with the issues effectively, quickly and fairly, with the school headmaster still thinking he is right despite all the allegations against him and the school?
The two parties who should be blamed for prolonging the whole controversy are the Education Ministry and the headmaster.
I wonder whether it is just because Parliament will be meeting soon, at which Muhyiddin is expected to be quizzed, was the reason for the meeting among parents of pupils from SK Seri Pristana, the headmaster and Education Department that took place a few days ago.
I agree that the school issue should come to a closure and it can only come to that with a full investigation into all the allegations made against the school and the headmaster.
M KULA SEGARAN is the MP for Ipoh Barat and a DAP national vice-chairperson.
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