Although the Kedah teacher who told students to drink water in the toilet had supposedly said so as a joke, Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan said this was unacceptable.

"I was informed that the teacher used those words in jest with no intention of hurting any students' feelings.

"However, when dealing with students, use of such statements are not acceptable.

"The teacher should be well aware of the consequences of such bad judgement, especially so with students," he said in a Facebook post tonight.

He said the ministry will wait for the police to complete its investigations, after which the it will take 'appropriate action' to ensure that the incident will not be repeated and to send a message to teachers to be sensitive on how they interact with students.

Earlier today, a letter of complaint had been circulated on social media alleging at the senior assistant of student affairs at SK Ibrahim, Kedah, had told non-Muslim students not to drink water in class but to do so in the toilet instead.

The letter further claimed that the teacher had told the student that if they don't have water, they could drink from the taps or their own urine.

However, Kedah exco member Tajul Urus Mat Zain ( photo ) for education and the Kuala Muda OCPD later clarified that the issue had been a case of a misunderstood joke .

Tajul Urus explained that the teacher had actually told non-Muslim students that they could seek their teacher's permission to drink outside of class and out of sight of their Muslim classmates who are fasting for the Ramadan period.

He then joked that they could also drink from the toilet, but had actually said, "but don't drink your urine too", according to Tajul Urus.

A special school assembly has been held this morning to correct the senior teacher's statement.

Parents of disgruntled parents have also lodged police reports against the teacher, while the teacher has lodged a police report as well over the threats that he had received for his alleged remarks.