The headmistress of a Chinese primary school involved in an alleged racial attack on a teacher has been transferred to the district Education Department, pending an investigation.
This is according to Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid, who added that a special team has been formed to investigate this issue.
"The headmistress has been placed temporarily at the district Education Department until the investigations are completed.
"The three Malay teachers involved will be transferred out of that school," Mahdzir said in a Facebook posting today.
He urged everyone to avoid jumping to the conclusion that this is a racial incident, as such cases are rare.
The full report on this case should be ready within three days from the start of the investigations, he added.
Salina Daud, a teacher at SJKC Pai Chee in Mersing, Johor, had lodged a police report on Wednesday against the father of a pupil, whom she claimed assaulted her.
The man allegedly threw books and teaching equipment at the teacher when he barged into the common room of the teachers.
He had also cursed her in the Chinese language during a lesson on Jan 5, Salina alleged.
She later complained to the pupil's class teacher about the incident, but claimed that no action was taken.
"I am not happy because the school's administration is not protecting me as a teacher at the school," Salina said.
She also claimed that the headmistress had previously attempted to force her to resign or to have her and two other Malay teachers transferred out.
Salina also accused the headmistress of saying that the Chinese community in that area did not want Malay teachers in the school.
Meanwhile, Mersing district police chief M Kumar had denied that this was a racial incident.
"This should not be made into a racial issue. It just so happens that the teacher is a Malay and the pupil's father is a Chinese.
"Initial investigations revealed the father was upset because the teacher scolded his son," Kumar said.
Malaysiakini has attempted to contact the headmistress and district Education Department for comments.
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