When will the indignity stop? There must be something wrong with an education system where young pupils are made to have their meals in a changing room located next to the toilet. The recent uproar over Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Pristana needs to be clarified with facts and through applying common sense. Facts pertaining to the primary school in Sungai Buloh which has an enrolment of over 1,300 pupils and more than 70 teachers are: The availability of two “changing rooms”. The fact that Seri Pristana has two shower rooms (when some poor schools don’t even have enough toilets) is an indication of how the sophisticated is the infrastructure at Seri Pristana which is a newly built, well-appointed school. In addition to spacious classrooms, a computer lab, science labs and a Living Skills workshop, Seri Pristana is equipped with facilities such as music room, fine arts room, sick bay, recovery room and three rooms that are called Bilik Kesihatan Gigi (dental health rooms). Other amenities include resource centre, textbook room, AV Room (audio-visual), Bilik P&P (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran) , Special Education Room (for students with special needs) and a Self Assess Learning Room. From the reports that we have received from media personnel and Indian activists on the ground who had visited its premises the last couple of days, it is learned that Seri Pristana has the following as well – prefects room, security room, store room and pantry. Aside from the above, Seri Pristana also has a counseling room and two meeting rooms. With all of these rooms as alternative options, we have to ask why the school management – quite inexplicably – elected to put its non- fasting pupils in the “changing room” that is located next door to the toilet. There are two versions of what happened in Seri Pristana with the story by the parents not altogether agreeing with the story told by the principal and echoed by Education Ministry officials. The authorities have trivialised the episode with some of the mainstream media confidently declaring “issue resolved”. By so cavalierly dismissing and sweeping the complaint under the carpet, it is a small wonder that the school has caused the parents and the concerned general public to be up in arms. A trust deficit has caused the affected parties to be skeptical about the excuses provided by the school authorities as to why the non-Muslim children were segregated and directed to eat in a shower room out of sight of the majority of their peers. This action by the head of a school comes across that the religious minorities have been singled out during the Muslim fasting month. There have been further complaints that aside from Seri Pristina, other national schools have similarly shut down their canteens too. To preempt a reoccurrence of the Seri Pristina controversy, guidelines must be put in place to ensure that Malaysian schoolgoers are not vulnerable to such thoughtless treatment in future. The Education Ministry must ensure that as a general policy a proper space is provided for non-Muslim children to eat during fasting month and that the canteen operates as per normal with food sold albeit at a lesser capacity and volume. More importantly, it is imperative that the decision makers in the schools understand that appropriate respect must be shown to their charges regardless of race and religion. Children of the minority gods must not be coerced into adhering to the faith beliefs and practices of the dominant religion.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 01:43:29 +0000
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