Monday August 10, 2009
An apology to parents
PERTH (Australia): Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has apologised for the actions of the Federal Territory Education Department officers who locked out 70 parents when they tried to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the school’s Parents Teachers Association (PTA) recently.
They were due to discuss the reversal of the Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI) policy last Saturday.
“I apologise to the parents as it is not fair to them,” he said. “They wanted to discuss an important issue and were doing so in a proper manner. They were not doing it in the streets,” he told Malaysian media during a breakfast meeting at the end of his five-day working trip here yesterday
“I am not a dictator and the PTA can submit their memorandum to me,” he said, adding that he would also seek feedback from the community on the possibility of introducing a flexible approach to the policy.
When contacted, the ministry’s director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom said the PTA was not allowed to convene an EGM as its agenda to discuss the PPSMI policy placed the school’s teachers in a tight spot.
“Some PTA members are teachers and it isn’t proper for government servants to hold a discussion in school regarding a policy that has been approved by the Cabinet,” he said.
Alimuddin also said the parents were free to send a memorandum to the ministry as all views on the issue were welcomed.
The school’s PTA vice-chairman, Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, was surprised to receive the minister’s apology. “We’re very happy as holding an EGM is a PTA’s right,” she said.
“His apology shows that he is listening to the rakyat and noting their sensitivities. It is 1Malaysia in action where people come first,” she added.
News Poll
- Court ruling takes bite out of local council summonses
- New evidence on MCA snoop squad case arrives at doorstep
- Girl and stepmum held over bid to kill first wife
- Chin Peng apologises for death of innocents
- Biggest karaoke session a blast
- Teoh’s body exhumed for second autopsy today
- Victim’s dad nabs kidnapper
- Puad faces flak over ‘use Bahasa only’ remark
- Foreigner falls to her death from condominium
- Big impact in ‘small’ man’s win
- Court ruling takes bite out of local council summonses
- Johor set to be a medical hub
- Joy for 2,500 housebuyers as SPNB takes over project
- Indonesia seizes ammonium nitrate shipment from Malaysia
- Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debate
- Latest news from AP Wire
- Coal mine blast kills 42 in China, 66 trapped
- Mumbai still vulnerable one year after attack
- Jackson moonwalk glove sells for $350K in NYC
- Novelist and his stripes
RSS
