Students must obtain head’s permission to leave school compound

SIBU: Headmasters are legally responsible for keeping pupils within the school gates to safeguard their safety.

For that reason, they cannot simply allow the children to leave and come as they wish, said Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) president William Ghani Bina.

“Headmasters shoulder heavy responsibility as they need to safeguard the safety of all pupils including boarders.

“Children are very vulnerable outside the school gate and can be swayed by negative influences.

“What if a female pupil is targeted by bad hats outside the school gate? Headmasters will be the first one answerable to such untoward incident.

“And mind you, they (headmasters) can be sued by parents for negligence for letting children leave the hostels as and when they (children) like,” Ghani told The Borneo Post Wednesday.

He explained that parents needed to meet with the headmasters if their children needed to be excused from school.

“It is very risky to allow a 12-year-old child to leave the school just because he or she asks to do so. Headmasters would be treading in deep waters if they do so,” he grimaced.

He was on Wednesday asked his view on three Primary Six pupils of a school here who filed a police report alleging that their headmaster caned and scolded them for refusing to stay in the hostel.

According to a news report in The Borneo Post on the same day, Embark Tani said his daughter Michelle Menti Embark, his niece Jasthasha Jemat and nephew Helexson Mani Abo returned to the longhouse from school on Monday with bruises on their buttocks, arms and hands.

To this, Ghani explained: “The parents should have sought clarifications from the headmasters first. And from there, if they were still not satisfied with the explanations, they could pursue the matter with the Education Department.”

Towards this end, he called on parents to understand the heavy responsibilities borne by headmasters and teachers.

“Parents need to understand there are rules and regulations to follow in schools, and all parties need to work closely to ensure their children get the best of education in a conducive environment,” Ghani concluded.

Source: The Borneo Post

Are the greens in SMK Green Road safe?

KUCHING: Ever since the football field of SMK Green Road here was tested unhealthy for use many years ago, teachers and students seldom stepped onto the greens.

The last test was done more than six years ago, so what’s the soil condition today? Interestingly, nobody has the answer yet.

The school’s principal Putit Ped told The Borneo Post yesterday that they were unclear of the present state of their field but in view of the current outbreak of melioidosis in the state they plan to call in the health experts.

Melioidosis is a water and soil-borne disease endemic to parts of Malaysia, Australia and other South East Asian countries.

“Actually, a few minutes before you called I was having a discussion with my senior assistant about this subject. We plan to write to the medical authorities to ask them to do a retest to determine whether our football field is now healthy for use or not.

“This is because the soil in this area was declared as unhealthy for use many years ago. I don’t know in which year but it was before I came to this school in 2004,” Putit said.

Putit, however, admitted that despite the declaration they still occasionally used the field for school activities such as camping and sports activities.

“Our field was not totally closed to students. We allow them to use the field but of course with certain conditions. Among others they were prohibited to play there during rainy season and they must put on shoes and proper attires.

“We have been reminding our students to always take the necessary precautions when going to the field, such as not to go there bare footed,” he said. He said the children were also advised against playing in the field unnecessarily, particularly during wet weather.

“The bacteria in the soil could still be active but even if it is already safe there is no harm for us to take preventive measures. Prevention is always better than cure,” said Putit.

Source:The Borneo Post online