KOTA KINABALU – Two witnesses and several students in the English teacher absenteeism trial had complained about the no-show issue to other teachers, but were turned away, the high court here heard today.
Nurul Afirah Zainal and Suriana Mohammad Salleh testified they had complained to their class teacher Siti Khamisa and assistant class teacher identified as Shamsul but were advised to let the matter go.
The two witnesses, however, could not ascertain when they first raised the matter to both teachers but said they were accompanied by other students at the time.
Nurul Afirah and Suriana were classmates of the three former students of SMK Taun Gusi who had sued their English teacher, Mohd Jainal Jamran, for allegedly skipping all his English lessons for four months between March and November 2017.
According to both witnesses, who are now aged 21, they also took their grouses to the school’s senior assistant administrator named Johari on November 2, 2017.
Johari told them that they were complaining to the wrong place and person, and should have complained directly to the school principal.
The students also recorded the conversation and in it Nurul Arifah recollected their first meeting with the senior assistant administrator, who promised them replacement classes which never eventually took place.
During cross-examination, the two women also disagreed that they would still have failed their school English examination with or without the classes.
This came after senior federal counsel Mohd Hafizi Abdul Halim had drawn a comparison between their English teacher and their mathematics teacher who consistently conducted classes with them.
The federal counsel added that the two still failed their English paper despite the test questions being leaked before the exam in 2017.
“If the defendant had leaked the questions earlier, how come you still got low grades? You could have studied and prepared earlier,” Hafizi asked Nurul Afirah.
To which, she responded: “The defendant leaked the exam questions but at the time I didn't know anything because the teacher had not taught us for long. Even if I had answered, I wouldn’t know if I had answered it correctly.”
To this, Hafizi revealed that Nurul Afirah had scored 28 in her maths exam.
Hafizi: Was the maths teacher always present for lessons?
Nurul Afirah: Yes.
Hafizi: Based on your answer, although the teacher attended the lessons, you still failed?
Nurul Afirah: Yes.
Hafizi: Although, your maths teacher did not miss a lesson, your grades are still lower than your English (grades) where you accused the defendant of not attending class.
Nurul Afirah: I agree because the maths questions that we studied for were not in the exam paper.
To this, Hafizi said her low grades were the result of Nurul Afirah’s casual and uninterested attitude to learning, which she refuted.
Witness Suriana was also cross-examined by federal counsel Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir.
Representing the three plaintiffs are Roxana Jamaludin, Shireen Sikayun, Jubili Anilik and Dominic J. Omok while judge Leonard David Shim presided.
The hearing resumes on September 23 and from November 14 to 16.
The defence had also requested for a postponement until next year but this was rejected by the judge.
Shim did not agree for the case to be pushed to 2023 as it was filed in 2020.
Siti Nafirah Siman, now 22, filed her case in 2018. The others – Rusiah Sabdarin, 21, Nur Natasha Allisya Hamali, 21, and Calvina Angayung, 21, collectively filed their case in 2020.
They had named Jainal and principal Suid Hanapi, along with the Education Department’s director-general, the education minister and the Malaysian government as defendants.
The latter three claimed they failed their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia English paper as a result of their teacher, Jainal, being absent from school for months.
Jainal allegedly skipped classes for seven months in 2015 and for four months between March and November 2017.
The trio also claimed that they were forced to obtain an injunction to stop the defendants from harassing them. – The Vibes, September 5, 2022
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