NILAI: Parents of Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Semarak here are unperturbed by the "Cikgu Azizan" case and will continue to send their children to the school.
Checks by the New Straits Times here today found that parents continue to flock the school to pay the school fees as well as buy school books for their children.
"I am aware of the case but not disturbed by it and am confident with the disciplinary measures already in place at the school.
I consider the Cikgu Azizan's case as an isolated incident and will not pull out my son from the school," said a parent who only wants to be known as Ismail.
Cikgu Azizan will stand trial tomorrow at the Seremban magistrate court after being accused of assaulting a student at the school in April.
He was said to have slapped a student whom he claimed had sniffed glue, involved in bullying cases and skipping school.
Another parent who spoke on condition of anonymity said the school was never embroiled in any trouble ever since it opened its doors in 2000 and now has a student count of more than 1,400 students.
"Despite the publicity surrounding Cikgu Azizan, I will continue to send my three children here as I don't think the disciplinary issues are a big problem as they are all minor cases.
Besides, all schools have disciplinary issues including this school and it is a matter of how the teachers handle them and to me the school teachers have managed it well," said the parent.
School headmaster Azhar Ayop as well as other teachers declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Semarak Parent Teacher Association president Md Fakarudin Ab Rahman said the association supports Cikgu Azizan who is also the school's student affairs senior coordinator.
"I started a solidarity campaign to root for Cikgu Azizan not to seek popularity but to honour and respect all teachers who work tirelessly to educate and nurture our children to become good citizens.
"In this case, I am not playing the blame game but only to lend support. The verdict lies with the court," he said when contacted today.
National Union of The Teaching Profession (NUTP) in a statement on Friday had expressed support for Cikgu Azizan and urged members to show their support too.
“NUTP will provide legal service to defend this teacher. At the same time, NUTP would like to call on all teachers in Malaysia to give moral support by coming to the court tomorrow at the Seremban magistrate court,” the statement read, which was signed by NUTP secretary-general, Henry Tan Huat Hock.
On Oct 31, Cikgu Azizan attended the first hearing of his court case where he was charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code which deals with punishment for voluntarily causing hurt.
If found guilty, Cikgu Azizan will be facing one year imprisonment or RM2,000 fine or both.
According to website pendidik2u.my, after the first hearing, the judge presiding the case set the bail of RM500 for Cikgu Azizan.
Reportedly according to the website, when Cikgu Azizan was arrested, he was kept in a lock up together with other convicts involved in drugs. There were about 13 convicts at the time and his hand was handcuffed with another convict.
“He was charged because he took disciplinary action against the student. For your information, he did that because the student were sniffing glue on school grounds and influenced three other students to do the same.
Cikgu Azizan is also garnering more support on social media, where more netizens are calling for others to do an online voting in showing support for him at the pendidik2u.my website.
#PrayForCikguAzizan is making its round on social media and netizens continue to pour support for him, while pleading to other teachers in the country to not give up when facing difficult situations with students.
“Even if you can’t attend the court proceeding, use the media platform as much as you can to show support for Cikgu Azizan,” the article added.