By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : A secondary school teacher in Malaysia accused of hurling racial slurs at her Indian students has been transferred but the local community refuses to treat the matter as closed and has demanded a public apology.
Two students of SMK Telok Panglima Garang in Banting, Selangor, lodged police reports against the history teacher last Friday alleging that she had made derogatory remarks about Indian students and called them unflattering names, The Star newspaper said.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Senator T. Murugiah, who visited the school, said the teacher was being transferred.
“She also said that she did not expect things to become so serious and has agreed to be transferred to another school,” added Murugiah who was accompanied by officers from the Education Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Department’s Public Complaints Bureau.
According to Murugiah, recommendations would also be made to the education ministry to institute disciplinary action against her.
He said the issue was now considered closed and advised members of the Indian community as well as parents of the affected students to accept the teacher’s apology.
But they refuse to do so.
“She must make a public apology as she insulted all Indians and be transferred to a desk job and not allowed to teach anymore,” said the group’s spokesperson S. Muthamil Selvan.
Secretary of the Coalition of Malaysian Indian NGOs Gunaraj George added that his organisation was preparing a memorandum on the issue to be presented to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Indians, a bulk of them Tamils, who form eight percent of Malaysia’s multi-ethnic population of 28 million, have frequently complained of discrimination in education and jobs.