The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) has called on teachers around the country to lend support to their colleague facing an assault charge for allegedly slapping a student.

The teacher, identified as “Cikgu Azizan,” is said to have punished the student for sniffing glue, playing truant, and being involved in bullying other students.

Besides noting that it would assist with Azizan’s legal defence, a statement issued by the union also urged teachers to appear in court in a show of support when the accused is brought in front of the magistrate next Tuesday.

“NUTP will provide legal service to defend this teacher.

“At the same time, NUTP would like to call on all teachers in Malaysia to give moral support by coming to the court,” read the statement, which was signed by the union’s secretary-general, Harry Tan Huat Hock.

According to the New Straits Times, Azizan is being charged Section 323 of the Penal Code, which pertains to causing hurt voluntarily, and faces a year of jail or an RM2,000 fine if found guilty.

A commentary piece uploaded on the website Pendidik2u.my claimed that the chairperson of the school where the alleged assault occurred expressed regret that the parents of the student have brought the issue to court.

“The case of Cikgu Azizan is not the first case in education where a teacher is sued by the guardian (of a student).

“This is the challenge facing teachers today, what else can they do?

"What punishments are we allowed to mete out on students? Can we only record students’ infringements in SSDM?” the Pendidik2u.my piece read, referring to the Education Ministry’s student management module.

The Pendidik2u.my site also contains a straw poll asking readers if they would “support and pray for” Azizan, which is backed by 99.8 percent of respondents at the time of writing.

“It is hoped that teachers support Azizan wherever they may be.

"Even if you cannot be present in court, you can state your support by voting (in the poll) and sharing (the results) in your social media and WhatsApp groups,” the posting read.