Patuhi pekeliling Kementerian Pelajaran

Oleh AINOL AMRIZ ISMAIL dan MOHAMMAD YASIR JAAFARmailto:JAAFARpengarang@utusan.com.my

KUALA PILAH 25 Mac – Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin meminta semua Pengarah Pelajaran negeri dan sekolah supaya mematuhi arahan pekeliling yang dikeluarkan oleh Kementerian Pelajaran.Beliau yang juga Menteri Pelajaran berkata, ia bertujuan mengelakkan rasa tidak puas hati di kalangan guru yang merasakan dibebani oleh kerja tidak relevan dengan tugas hakiki berikutan arahan dikeluarkan di peringkat negeri.‘‘Saya maklum mengenai perkara itu sejak kebelakangan ini, malahan saya sendiri memberikan perhatian terhadap isu tersebut. Umpamanya beban kerja guru, soal kebajikan selain perjawatan dan sebagainya,” katanya.Muhyiddin berkata demikian kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan kampus tetap Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Negeri Sembilan di Beting, dekat sini hari ini.Beliau ditanya berhubung satu cadangan yang dikemukakan oleh Kesatuan Kebangsaan Profesion Perguruan (NUTP) yang mengancam untuk mengadakan demonstrasi di seluruh negara sebagai tanda bantahan dengan bebanan kerja tanpa kaitan yang diberikan oleh pengetua dan guru besar.NUTP mendakwa terdapat guru yang diminta membuat laporan demi laporan, pelan tindakan, kertas kerja, yang mana disifatkan tidak relevan dengan tugas hakiki mereka.Menurut NUTP, tindakan itu boleh menjejaskan kualiti pengajaran seorang guru dan yang menjadi mangsa utamanya adalah pelajar itu sendiri. Mengulas lanjut, Muhyiddin menegaskan, tugas guru telah diperjelaskan oleh pihak kementerian dan pengarah di negeri serta sekolah wajar mematuhi apa juga pekeliling yang telah dikeluarkan oleh kementerian tersebut.Sehubungan itu beliau akan menemui semua Pengarah Pelajaran negeri untuk memastikan bagaimana segala dasar dan arahan yang dikeluarkan Kementerian Pelajaran dapat dipatuhi.Kata Muhyiddin, pertemuan itu akan melibatkan Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran, pengarah-pengarah peringkat kementerian serta pengarah pelajaran negeri.‘‘Selepas itu, saya juga akan mengadakan pertemuan dengan semua Pegawai Pelajaran Daerah untuk mencari jalan terbaik menyelesaikan apa juga perihal berbangkit termasuklah berkaitan beban tugas dan kebajikan guru,” katanya.Beliau berkata, Kementerian Pelajaran memang mengeluarkan pekeliling dari semasa ke semasa kepada pengarah peringkat negeri mengenai apa yang perlu dilakukan di sekolah-sekolah.‘‘Cuma masalah timbul apabila ada pengetua dan guru besar mengambil langkah tertentu mengikut budi bicara mereka sehingga menyebabkan timbul perasaan tidak puas hati di kalangan guru.‘‘Semua itu, bukanlah arahan kementerian kerana kita ada panduan yang hendak dibuat dan dilaksanakan."‘‘Persoalannya bagaimana kita hendak menyeragamkan semua tindakan itu supaya sesuatu keputusan yang dibuat di peringkat kerajaan dan kementerian dapat dilaksanakan dengan baik. Itulah yang akan kita selesaikan,” tambah beliau.Muhyiddin berkata, pertemuan dengan Pengarah Pelajaran negeri itu juga bukanlah disebabkan desakan NUTP, tetapi beliau sendiri berhajat menemui mereka.Ditanya mengenai tindakan demonstrasi yang hendak dilakukan oleh NUTP jika tuntutan mengenai beban tugas tidak dapat diselesaikan, Muhyiddin berkata, Ketua Pengarah, Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd. Dom telah pun menemui pihak berkenaan.

Kata Pengetua:

1. Sebagai pegawai awam, guru mestilah mematuhi segala arahan yang dikeluarkan melalui surat pekeliling, surat panduan dan surat arahan dari masa ke semasa. Surat pekeliling juga berbagai: ikhtisas, perkhidmatan, kewangan, perolehan, perbendaharaan. Sekolah menerima berbagai arahan, selain daripada melaksanakan program sekolah sendiri. Program sekolah sendiri itu adalah untuk memastikan hasrat pendidikan itu tercapai ia itu untuk memastikan perkembangan intelek, rohani, emosi dan jasmani pelajar tercapai. Saya rasa guru bersunggut apabila menerima berbagai arahan yang berbentuk pentadbiran yang tiada kaitan dengan p&p dan di mana juga mereka tidak ada kemahiran di dalamnya. Ditambah pula dengan dead lines yang ada kala sangat singkat. Nampaknya sekarang, semua perkara menjadi urgent, walaupun tidak penting!

2. Jika ada tindakan saya yang menyumbang kepada beban kerja, sila maklumkan saya supaya kita boleh bincang dalam mmesyuarat pengurusan.

Salam sejahtera,
Hj Rambli Zainudin

SMK AGAMA MIRI ON FIRE (BORNEO POST)

22 MAC 2010
MIRI: Big cloud of thick smoke that attracted attention of people around Bakam road was from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Miri.

DAMAGED: Aftermath of the fire incident where the hostel was completely gutted.
The fire was reported around 9.45 am yesterday.
It was reportedly the second fire incident in the school since 2002.
This time around it happened just next to the block that was destroyed during the first fire incident.
However, yesterday’s fire only damaged the whole of the floor of the Asrama Putera Block consisting of 10 rooms.
Seven of the rooms were used to accommodate the male boarding students, while the other three rooms were used for storerooms.
Each room was used to lodge 12 students, most of whom were Form One kids.
Fortunately, there was no injury reported in the incident.
One of the students noticed the smoke from the building and immediately informed the school warden who immediately contacted the fire brigade.
The school warden who is also a teacher at the school, Ustaz Husni Mohd Nor said:
“Luckily, there was no injury involved as at the time there was no student inside the building as most of the students were attending a seminar at the nearby block.
“It was the second time such (fire) incident happened at our school. The first one in 2002 was just at the next door block. The fire was suspected to be from a short circuit,” he added.
Meanwhile, according to the school principal Ustaz Fazial Ahmad, the affected students would be placed at the next block for the meantime.
“This is because the whole building will be closed temporarily as advised by the fire officer for further inspection,” the principal said, when asked what were the plans taken by the school management regarding the resettlement of affected student.
The school session will reopen as usual today.

Encouraging rural students to become teachers

(Borneo Post)
by Lucas Jalong Bato March 19, 2010, Friday
MIRI:

More than 200 school leavers in Belaga attended a programme called ‘Jom jadi cikgu’ to encourage rural students to become teachers.The programme, jointly organised by the Teacher Education Division of Batu Lintang Teachers Training Institute and Bakun Trust Fund, was held at SMK Belaga last March 13.
Among other things, the event was also to assist students who qualify to be teachers to register online.
The guidance and counselling teacher Dennis Hang expressed gratitude to Celcom for providing the broadband services even though the speed was a litle bit slow.
“We hope in future Celcom can provide at least 3G services in rural Belaga, as it had promised to do so, for the benefit of the rural students and teachers,” Hang said.
Parents were appreciative of such a programme to help their children find suitable jobs.
Mering, a representative from the Penan community thanked Belaga assemblyman Liwan Lagang for taking the initiative to hold such a programme in his constituency.
However, he was a little bit disappointed with the overall performance of Penan students in school thus far and hoped the Penan students could do better in the future.
“If more Penan students can become teachers, this will have a positive impact on our community,” Mering said.
Only four outstanding Penan students joined the programme and they are Raman Mayan, Jennifer Mering, Kusang Niboy and Jenson Jeno.

Teachers plan demo over irrelevant workload
SEREMBAN:

Teachers are considering holding a nationwide demonstration if the Education Ministry does not reign in overzealous state education department heads and headmasters who burden them with “irrelevant work”.They claim to have reached “near breaking point” and left with no choice but to hold a demonstration so that the higher-ups would take note of their plight.The decision was taken by National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) delegates during a three-day meeting which ended here yesterday. There are some 350,000 teachers in service.Its president Lt Cdr (Rtd) Hashim Adnan said teachers’ were now reduced to mere reporters rather than allowed to focus on teaching.“We are tasked to do reports after reports, action plans and working papers; most of which are totally irrelevant to our work. I must say this has affected the quality of teaching and the victims are the students,” he told The Star.Hashim said state department heads never sought their views and would bulldoze whatever programme they wanted introduced in schools.It is understood that the proposal to demonstrate was made by delegates from several states which did not even have one student in the top 10 of last year’s SPM results announced on Thursday.“We are mostly doing clerical work in schools and among our duties include collecting irrelevant data, attending courses, organising programmes and doing correspondence work.“Also, since some schools were now Sekolah Berprestasi Tinggi, we are required to do plenty of documentation work every day ... we are unable to focus in class,” Hashim said.He said teachers were also unhappy with the Government over a proposal to transfer senior teachers to rural schools.The delegates want the ministry to hire more male teachers to check the problem of indiscipline in schools.Teachers were also unhappy as headmasters did not notify them of their appraisal at the end of the year. This had jeorpadised their chances for promotion.

Kata Pengetua:

1. Sebagai "saya yang menurut perintah", kita guru haruslah mematuhi segala arahan yang diturunkan. Bergantunglah kepada persatuan dan kesatuan guru untuk menyuara dan menyelesaikan dengan pihak atasan. Adakah cikgu dalam mana-mana kesatuan guru?

2. Pengetua yang menerima berbagai arahan dari KPM, JPN dan PPD. Pengetua tidak akan memapu untuk melakukan segala arahan tersebut. Maka, arahan tersebut diperturunkan kepada guru. Sebagai Pengetua, saya juga merasa banyaknya arahan yang diturunkan; ada kala mengelirukan, ada kala berganda, ada kala urgent walaupun macam tidak penting ... (saya tidak akan ulas panjang sangat!). Nasihat saya, sebagai kakitangan (dalam BI ialah servant), just do it!

3. Berkaitan dengan LNPT - saya tidak ada halangan untuk memberitahu guru / kakitangan. Masalahnya, LNPT dilihat sebagai membanding antara seorang guru dengan guru yang lain. Saya dapati guru boleh menerima markah LNPT itu, tetapi tidak boleh menerima apabila dia dibandingkan dengan guru lain. Walaupun saya memberitahu guru markahnya, dia akan "mencari" berapa markah guru lain dan mula membuat perbandingan. -- Salam sejahtera,
Hj Rambli Zainudin

Sukan sekolah diperkasa 2011

Oleh Anwar Hussin, S Anand Kumar dan Haspaizi Mohd Zainbhnews@bharian.com.my2010/03/18
Kegiatan jadi bahagian khusus, dipisahkan daripada seni, kokurikulum

KUALA LUMPUR: Kementerian Pelajaran semalam memutuskan pelaksanaan beberapa langkah bagi memperkukuhkan pembangunan sukan di sekolah mulai tahun depan, termasuk memberi lima daripada 10 peratus markah yang diperuntukkan untuk kokurikulum.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, berkata antara lain yang diputuskan ialah menjadikan kegiatan sukan sebagai satu bahagian khusus yang mempunyai pengarah dan timbalan pengarah yang akan dilantik seramai empat orang, di samping memisahkan bahagian sukan yang sebelum ini dicantum dengan seni dan kokurikulum. “Selain itu, kerajaan juga memutuskan bahawa pemarkahan kepada pelajar yang menyertai aktiviti sukan adalah lima peratus berbanding 10 peratus yang diperuntukkan di bawah aktiviti kokurikulum sebelum ini yang tidak memberikan sebarang penekanan terhadap sukan. “Sebelum ini, kegiatan kokurikulum sukan tidak diberi penekanan di sekolah. Bermula tahun depan, dasar 1Murid 1Sukan akan dikuatkuasakan,” katanya selepas mempengerusikan Mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Induk Pembangunan Sukan Sekolah di Bangunan Parlimen. Muhyiddin berkata, turut diputuskan ialah penambahan tenaga kerja seperti guru khas untuk melaksanakan pembangunan sukan di sekolah yang akan dibuat secara berperingkat. Katanya, peruntukan untuk aktiviti sukan juga akan ditambah bagi setiap pelajar iaitu RM4 bagi pelajar sekolah rendah dan RM6 untuk pelajar sekolah menengah, berbanding peruntukan RM2.40 bagi setiap pelajar sebelum ini. “Kementerian juga akan mengambil langkah untuk menambah jadual kokurikulum dan ia akan susun balik, kalau boleh sukan itu diajar dalam jadual waktu persekolahan, jadi pelajar tidak perlu pulang,” katanya. Beliau berkata, bagaimanapun, langkah itu perlu dilakukan tanpa menjejaskan waktu pembelajaran akademik dan tidak membabitkan keperluan untuk memanjangkan waktu persekolahan. “Cara ini untuk menggalakkan pembangunan sukan di sekolah, bukannya nak tumpu untuk lahirkan atlit, tetapi jika nak majukan sukan di sekolah, mesti dapat mengenal pasti bakat yang boleh diketengahkan menerusi Majlis Sukan Negara, tapi sasaran kementerian ialah pembabitan pelajar dalam bidang pasukan,” katanya. Sementara itu, Muhyiddin berkata, satu jawatankuasa akan ditubuhkan untuk mendapatkan pandangan pelbagai pihak berhubung dasar pendidikan seks di sekolah. Timbalan Perdana Menteri berkata, jawatankuasa itu akan dianggotai pakar dalam bidang pendidikan seks, biologi dan hal yang berkaitan. “Mungkin kita boleh mengambil sedikit contoh daripada apa yang berlaku di setengah negara yang sudah memperkenalkan (dasar ini) dan juga pakar yang ada di kementerian,” katanya. Muhyiddin yang juga Menteri Pelajaran berkata, isu pendidikan seks di sekolah sudah dibincangkan oleh banyak pihak. “Cuma kementerian yang belum lagi membuat keputusan kerana kita faham yang ia adalah suatu perkara yang agak besar dan dinanti bukan saja oleh kementerian tetapi pelajar, ibu bapa dan masyarakat. Oleh itu, ia adalah satu perkara yang perlu kita halusi semasak-masaknya. “Jadi, saya bercadang untuk menubuh satu jawatankuasa untuk mendapatkan pandangan pelbagai pihak yang setakat ini (hanya menyuarakannya) kepada media saja, ada pakar kata bagus, ada yang kata tak bagus, ada yang

Time for sex education to be a school subject
March 13, 2010, Saturday
NOW who says only girls giggle. Boys do that too. Well, my classmates and I were guilty of giggling during secondary school more than 30 years ago when our biology teacher started talking about reproductive organs. (Now, we can all laugh at ourselves for giggling at that time.)That was our first introduction to sex (via the science class, of course). Then, the teacher would discuss the fertilisation of the egg by the sperm but would never mention that a man and woman must have sexual intercourse in order for reproduction to take place.
That would have tickled our curiosity (and innocence) even more and definitely, heighten our giggles and blushes. Well, I suppose it is only natural for teenagers to feel shy to talk openly about sex in school. For our biology teacher then, that was as far as she could go. No, there was nothing in the curriculum to warn students about unwanted pregnancy or to advise on safe sex.
This week, the Education Ministry brought up the subject of introducing sex education in schools. The issue was broached because of the increasing number of unwed mothers, mostly students.
There is now a realisation that sex and relationship education is critical. Children must be taught about relationships, responsibilities, and the social and emotional side of sexual behaviour.
During my time in secondary school, unwanted pregnancy was not actually a serious issue. Well, we can say that teenagers then were more ‘careful’ or less ‘adventurous’. Still, we have to concede that students then were also having sexual relations.
Sex education in schools has been brought up many times but somehow, the matter was put in cold storage as soon as it was brought up.
In 2005, Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein, then the Education Minister, was all for sex education. He was quoted as saying in the media that “we are faced with various forms of sexual crimes: Internet pornography, incest, pre-marital sex, sexual abuse and harassment, and paedophilia. The guidelines address all these. All must take sex as a serious issue.”
Then in December 2006, there was an AFP report saying that Malaysia is to introduce sex education in schools for the first time, with topics to range from pre-marital sex to homosexuality and masturbation.
It reported that under the plans approved by the Cabinet, sex education will start for preschoolers from the age of four up to teenagers and young adults, according to the Education Ministry and the Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development.
Subjects would also include rape, sexual abuse, abortion, infanticide and the spread of HIV/AIDS, the ministries said.
“This action is needed so that society, especially the youth, are given accurate and detailed information to curb these social ills,” they said in a statement.
The ministries said they had developed a sex education guidebook incorporating the topics that were written after consultations, which started in July 2002.
“The guidebook was published to impart knowledge to all Malaysians from various age groups to think positively in life by absorbing good and honourable social values,” they said.
Five years later, what happened to the guide book? It’s strange that there was no follow-up on the matter. Has the guide book been used to train teachers in the teaching of sex education? Or like the quest to introduce sex education, it has also been placed on the shelf to gather dust. What a waste of the funds and efforts put in coming up with the guide book, really!
As sex education was raised again this week, it is not surprising to hear the same lamentation — teachers are not trained to teach the subject.
National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng voiced the union’s full support of the government’s move for sex education in schools but lamented that, “teachers lack formal training in the complexity and sensitivity of the subject and are not confident to teach it”.
Some teachers feared being sued by parents for imparting sexual knowledge to their children, she said.
We can appreciate the concerns of the teachers as these fears are real. How often have we heard of parents taking action against the school authorities or teachers for alleged mistreatment of their children.
Whatever the obstacles are, it is high time that sex education be made a school subject. Why? An editorial in an online news portal said it best this week.
“As children are sexually active at an earlier age these days, sex education should be made compulsory and be taught in line with the ethos and values of the school. Maybe, what needs to be done is for a survey of parents, to be commissioned by the government, for the parents’ feedback.
“It is important to teach children about puberty and the facts of life, the differences between boys and girls, healthy relationships, different kinds of relationships (heterosexual and homosexual), body image and self-confidence.
“At secondary school level, pupils should know about contraception, HIV and AIDS, pregnancy, effects of drugs, sexually transmitted diseases, responsibility, abortions and importance of relationships.
“As in any teaching, the weakest point is the quality of the teachers and their treatment of the subject. Teachers must be strict and disciplined with pupils who might want to misconstrue why sex education is being taught.
“Simultaneously, a group of trained teachers to provide counselling services must be made available for any student with problems of a sexual nature, to be discussed in confidence.
“Perhaps, the main message is that sex education is not about teaching young children to ‘have sex’. It is to give them an idea about relationships, to be developed as they get older. It might help if the sex education was kept purely scientific, as opposed to calling it pleasurable or ‘making love’.”
Today, I am not giggling or blushing. As a father myself, I have spoken to my teenage kids on all they need to know about their bodies and relationships with the opposite sex.
And I’m glad, my kids did not giggle in our discussion on sex. Thankfully, they were more mature than me when I was their age.

Bantuan perkapita kokurikulum dinaikOleh Hassan Omarhassanomar@bharian.com.my2010/03/13
MUHYIDDIN bersama Ketua Menteri Sabah, Datuk Seri Musa Aman ketawa bersama penjual ikan, Margaret Jipulis (kanan) ketika mempromosikan belut.Peruntukan terlalu rendah, perlu ditambah: Muhyiddin
KOTA KINABALU: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin mengumumkan bantuan perkapita kokurikulum setiap pelajar sekolah dinaikkan daripada RM2 sekarang, manakala sistem penyimpanan data guru yang bakal ditugaskan di luar bandar dan pedalaman diperkemas. Timbalan Perdana Menteri menyifatkan bantuan berkenaan sekarang terlalu rendah dan perlu ditingkatkan sejajar usaha Kementerian Pelajaran memperkukuh pembabitan pelajar dalam bidang kokurikulum, terutama sukan. "Kita akan pastikan jumlah peruntukan lebih daripada sedia ada supaya sekolah dapat melaksanakan lebih banyak kegiatan. Minggu depan kami akan bermesyuarat membincangkan perkara ini," katanya selepas majlis bersama warga pendidik di Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Kota Kinabalu, di Bukit Padang, dekat sini.
Mengenai sistem penyimpanan data guru, Muhyiddin berkata, beliau sudah mengarahkan pegawai kementerian menyediakan sistem lebih kemas dan terkini yang bukan setakat membabitkan maklumat mengenai guru itu sendiri, malah keluarga mereka bagi menjadikan pertukaran dan penempatan dilaksanakan secara lebih telus.
Katanya, sistem berkenaan akan memudahkan Jabatan Pelajaran negeri menyusun jadual penempatan guru baru dan pertukaran guru berpengalaman untuk bertugas di luar bandar dan pedalaman, bagi mengelakkan mereka menghadapi masalah untuk ditukarkan.
Sementara itu, Muhyiddin berkata, kementerian akan mengkaji elaun tertentu untuk guru di pedalaman sebagai menghargai pengorbanan mereka bertugas di kawasan yang tidak memiliki infrastruktur lengkap.
Mengenai guru tidak lagi diberikan peluang menduduki peperiksaan Penilaian Tahap Kecekapan (PTK) pada tahap empat untuk membolehkan mereka menikmati peningkatan gaji jika lulus pada tahap tiga, Muhyiddin berkata, kementerian akan meneliti perkara itu.
"Kita kumpulkan maklumat keluarga guru seperti dia tinggal di mana, suami dia kerja apa dan dia ada beli rumah atau tidak. Guru mesti tahu bila dia akan ditukarkan supaya boleh buat persediaan. Bagi guru baru pula, dia harus bersedia ditukarkan ke luar bandar dan pedalaman," katanya.
Muhyiddin juga berkata, masalah murid menumpang di sekolah lain kerana bilik darjah tidak cukup tidak harus berlaku tetapi sukar dielakkan berikutan pertambahan penduduk di sesuatu kawasan sukar dijangka.
Beliau berkata bagi mengatasi masalah itu, kerajaan harus menyediakan peruntukan besar kerana untuk membina sebuah sekolah, peruntukan tidak kurang RM50 juta diperlukan.
Sehubungan itu, katanya, Kementerian Pelajaran terpaksa menyediakan kabin sebagai bilik darjah sementara sebelum bangunan tambahan dibina.
Sementara itu, ketika menjawab soalan dalam sesi berkenaan, Muhyiddin berkata, kementerian akan mengkaji elaun tertentu untuk guru di pedalaman sebagai menghargai pengorbanan mereka bertugas di kawasan yang tidak memiliki infrastruktur seperti bekalan tenaga elektrik, jalan raya dan bekalan air.
Mengenai guru tidak lagi diberikan peluang menduduki peperiksaan Penilaian Tahap Kecekapan (PTK) pada tahap empat untuk membolehkan mereka menikmati peningkatan gaji jika lulus pada tahap tiga, Muhyiddin berkata, kementerian akan meneliti perkara itu.
Beliau bersetuju guru dan pegawai di pejabat pelajaran daerah tidak harus disekat menikmati kenaikan gaji selepas lulus tahap tiga PTK dan akan membincangkannya dengan pegawai kementerian itu.

Kata Pengetua:

Masalah pertukaran guru adalah masalah lama. Guru luar bandar sukar pindah ke bandar kerana jarang guru bandar yang pindah keluar bandar walaupun ada elaun luar bandar. Guru luar bandar mahu pindah ke bandar kerana keluarga mereka di bandar, mereka beli rumah di bandar atau hendak tukar angin / "mencari pengalaman" baru. Sekarang ini sistem point digunakan. Walau bagaimanapun, masalah timbul kerana tiada kekosongan di bandar walaupun point telah dicapai.
--

STU chief disagrees teachers not ready for sex education

(Borneo Post)
by Peter Boon March 4, 2010, Thursday
SIBU: The notion that Malaysian teachers are not ready to impart sex education in school does not augur well with the Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU).Its president William Ghani, in stating this yesterday, said STU respected the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng’s view on the matter.
However, he said, it did not reflect the stand of the 340,000 teachers from 10,000 schools in the country.
“This is because the issue was never discussed in our meetings comprising the country’s 24 teachers’ unions, Secondary School Principals Association Malaysia and Primary School Headmasters Council,” Ghani told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.
He was commenting on Lok’s opinion that Malaysian teachers lacked professional training in teaching the subject.
Lok was also quoted by a local news agency as saying that teachers were not confident to teach such subject.
In response, quoting his neighbour (a teacher), who called him yesterday, Ghani said: “Who say we are not ready.”
In fact, in school, subjects such as Civic (Moral), Biology and Science taught students the importance of self-respect, he stressed.
“For example, there is a section in the Civic lesson that dwells on family education. Here, students are properly guided about the dos and don’ts in their lives.
“We explain to them why certain things are best left until they are married,” he said.
Ghani strongly felt that such knowledge could be further reinforced by parents, given the limited time children had in school.
A strong family institution was imperative to help children shun bad influences and guide them towards achieving their goals in life, he emphasised.
Parents, he went on to say, needed to play a more engaging role at home.
He said they needed to tell their children why it was not proper to start a relationship while still schooling and the consequences of doing so.
Among others, he reckoned that by providing moral and religious education at home, parents would condition their children’s mind to differentiate between right and wrong.
“Our children will check with their inner selves before attempting anything that can throw their lives into tatters,” Ghani added.
In addition, he pointed out that parents should make time for a regular heart to heart talk with their children.
“This is because at times, children attempted wild things just to attract their parents’ attention,” he said.
He also felt that it was irrational to introduce a fresh subject in school each time a problem cropped up as students would be the one to bear blunt of such action.
Students, he added, were already hard pressed to cope with their schoolwork.
“Therefore, any additional subject will make them dislike going to school,” he said.
He said this might prompt students to skip school as they might find it boring.
“Perhaps, we have to ask ourselves in attempting to solve a problem, are we creating a bigger problem which we may have overlooked?” he asked.

Murid dakwa guru cakar pipi
KANGAR 2 Mac (Utusan Malaysia) –

Seperti murid Tahun Satu yang lain, Zaidi Putra Zakaria, 7, begitu teruja untuk ke sekolah, sejak sesi pembelajaran dibuka awal Januari lalu.Walaupun pernah sekali dia diserang demam, kanak-kanak itu tetap bersemangat untuk pergi ke sekolah.Namun, apa yang berlaku pada 23 Februari lalu, sedikit sebanyak telah menyentap semangat kanak-kanak itu untuk pergi ke sekolah.Bapa murid itu mendakwa, anaknya itu kini fobia untuk pergi ke sekolah setelah pipinya dicakar oleh seorang guru perempuan sebuah sekolah rendah di Sanglang.Menurut Zakaria Kasa, 39, dia kesal kerana dimaklumkan bahawa kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh anaknya itu hanya kerana terlupa menyiapkan kerja sekolah yang diberi oleh guru berkenaan.Zakaria mendakwa, dia dihubungi oleh pihak sekolah pada pukul 8.45 pagi minggu lalu, meminta supaya datang ke sekolah setelah anak lelakinya itu mengalami luka di pipi kanan.“Saya nampak ada kesan cakar sepanjang kira-kira empat sentimeter di pipi kanan anak saya tetapi ketika ditanya, anak saya hanya mendiamkan diri,” katanya kepada para pemberita di sini semalam.Zakaria yang berasal dari Kampung Sungai Belati, Simpang Empat berkata, dia kemudian membiarkan anaknya meneruskan persekolahan kerana Zaidi Putra mempunyai kelas tuisyen di sekolah itu sehingga pukul 2 petang.“Namun pada sebelah petang, ketika semua warga sekolah itu pulang barulah Zaidi Putra memberitahu bahawa pipinya dicakar oleh guru perempuan tersebut,” katanya.Setelah mengetahui punca kejadian tersebut Zakaria berkata, dia bergegas bertemu seorang guru sekolah berkenaan, namun dia kecewa apabila guru berkenaan memberitahu anaknya berbohong dan luka itu dibuat sendiri oleh anaknya.“Guru tersebut memberitahu bahawa luka itu dibuat sendiri oleh anak saya iaitu dengan menggores zip yang terdapat pada bekas menyimpan pensil ke pipi,” dakwanya.Tidak berpuas hati dengan tuduhan itu, Zakaria bertindak membuat laporan polis di Balai Polis Simpang Empat pada pukul 5.55 petang hari yang sama.Menurut Zakaria, dia terkejut apabila guru besar sekolah itu ingin memohon maaf beberapa hari kemudian sedangkan pada awal kejadian, pihak sekolah menafikan tindakan guru berkenaan.Malah dia juga berasa terkilan kerana guru yang terlibat dalam kejadian itu tidak tampil sendiri untuk memohon maaf dengan alasan sedang mengikuti kursus.Berikutan itu, dia membuat keputusan untuk memberhentikan persekolahan anak-anaknya di sekolah itu kerana tidak lagi menaruh kepercayaan terhadap pentadbiran sekolah tersebut.Sementara itu, Ketua Polis Daerah Kangar, Supritendan Abdul Rahman Mohd. Noordin ketika dihubungi mengesahkan pihaknya menerima laporan mengenai kejadian tersebut dan kini sedang menjalankan siasatan.

Kata Pengetua:

Kita perlu sedar bahawa zaman sudah berubah. Membuat laporan polis sudah menjadi lumrah; saman menyaman sudah menjadi-jadi. Oleh itu, kita harus bertindak mengikut perubahan tersebut. Oleh itu, saya akan selalu mengingatkan para guru supaya tidak mengambil tindakan fizikal yang tidak dibenarkan terhadap pelajar. Niat yang baik tidak cukup untuk mempertahankan diri kalau kita disaman di mahkamah.