KOTA KINABALU: The issue of teacher absenteeism at SMK Taun Gusi, Kota Belud, is persistent, but nothing has been done to address it despite numerous complaints and substantial proof.
Nurhaizah Ejab, 39, claimed she tried everything to persuade the then school principal Suid Hanapi to take action against Mohd Jainal Jamran, who did not attend 4PD class to teach English for months in 2015.
"He (Suid) doesn't care despite the evidence shown in front of him. The principal said that he could not take disciplinary action against Jainal because it would involve a lot of documentary evidence.
"He also blamed other teachers such as senior assistants, discipline teachers, ustaz and ustazah, for not advising and reprimanding Jainal. The weakest action he mentioned was that he would reduce Jainal's performance score at the end of the year," she said.
According to Nurhaizah, the issue of "guru ponteng" is not new at SMK Taun Gusi, and she was well aware of it during her first year there, particularly Jainal's attitude.
Nurhaizah was testifying before High Court Judge Datuk Ismail Brahim in the trial of a suit brought by the school's former student, Siti Nafirah Siman, against her former English teacher, Jainal for failing to teach the subject of English to her and her classmates during his assigned periods or timetable for the academic year of 2015.
The other defendants are Suid (in his capacity as the school principal), the Kota Belud district education officer, Sabah education director, education director-general, education minister and the government.
Counsel Shireen Sikayun represented Siti Nafirah while senior federal counsel Jesseca Daimis and federal counsel Mohd Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir acted for the defendants.
Sabah Law Society's Women and Childrens' Rights Sub-Committee chairperson Datin Mary Florence Gomez and counsel Yannik Mohd Annuar held a watching brief for Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).
Trial adjourned to March 7 and 8.
For the record, Nurhaizah was the key witness in a different suit filed by three former students of a secondary school in Kota Belud, who later won the unprecedented suit against their former English language teacher on July 19, last year.