PENANG DAP deputy chairman Prof P. Ramasamy has criticised a school’s treatment of a Form 1 student in a school in Tasek Gelugor, Penang who was told to kneel during a school assembly for wearing the wrong type of shoes, calling the punishment “cruel” and “barbaric” in nature.
The 13-year-old student, who had lodged a police report over the matter, alleged that a teacher instructed her to raise both arms while kneeling on a tarred road after she was found to be wearing shoes with Velcro straps.
After the assembly, she claimed the teacher cut off her kayiru, a holy string she wore on her right wrist, and she was also ordered to remove her pottu (black dot) as well as the holy ash from her forehead.
The student also told the teacher that her father could not afford to buy her shoes with lace, and added that she was afraid to go to school after the incident, which had then prompted her to lodge a police report at Tasek Gelugor police station on Tuesday (Nov 1).
Ramasamy said while Seberang Perai Utara District police chief ACP Mohd Radzi Ahmad has confirmed the report, it is not clear what action the authorities are going to take on the matter.
“This morning I messaged Penang Education Department director [Abdul Rashid Abdul Samad] to ask for his response on the matter but he has yet to respond,” he commented.
“It was uncalled for for the teacher to mete out such a cruel punishment on the student by telling her to kneel with her hands raised during school assembly for not wearing ‘acceptable’ shoes,” Ramasamy stressed.
“The teacher was completely out of line for cutting the student’s holy string and removing the holy ash from her forehead.
“My question is, why the triple punishment simply for not wearing the proper shoes? By not wearing the right shoes did the student offend the practices of other religions? Who gave the teacher the authority to remove religious symbols such as the holy string and the holy ash?”
Ramasamy further questioned the police and the State Education Department’s next course of action, asking if they are going to “sweep the incident under the rug”.
“I understand from informed sources that the school authorities are trying to prevent those who witnessed the incident on Tuesday from telling the truth. In other words, there is an attempt at cover up,” he noted.
“It is not just about the uncalled-for barbaric punishment of shaming the student in front of the school assembly but also about the unpardonable act of gross interference in the student’s practices.” — Nov 3, 2022
