MP Chua wants probe into teacher witch-hunt

A letter issued by a Tawau district education officer directing school principals to weed out opposition supporters among its teachers has stirred outrage in Sabah

TAWAU, Mar 11, 2012: A member of parliament here has called for an enquiry into a Sabah Education Department witch-hunt to weed out teachers who do not support the Barisan Nasional government.

Opposition MP, Chua Soon Bui, said she was taken aback that the education department officers had taken on the role of political commissars for the BN government and were actively spying on the political leanings of teachers and principals in the district.

Chua comments come after it was exposed that Tawau district education officer, Darman Shah Asakil, in an official letter, had instructed principals to classify teachers into three categories: White, Grey and Black.

According to a political blog called Ameno World which uploaded the letter, Darman had instructed principals to categorise teachers who supported government policies and were grateful to the Umno-BN government as 'White'.

"Those criticising government policies and known to support the opposition were to be classified in the 'Grey' category and teachers who are members of opposition parties and are openly convincing other teachers to question government policies are to be categorised as 'Black'," Darman said in the letter.

Darman, however, did not explain why the exercise was necessary but stated that it was a decision made during a meeting with the Sabah state education department on Feb 29.

The Tawau Education Department top official also warned that the list had be prepared by the principals themselves and that the exercise was classified under the Official Secrets Act.

Irresponsible act

Chua described the 'directive' as an outrage and said she had informed deputy education minister Wee Ka Siong to call for an inquiry.

She said Darman's irresponsible actions had created unnecessary pressure and tension for school principals and teachers in Tawau.

"Isn't his action seditious? Being a senior officer in education, he should understand democracy and the rights of citizens," she said yesterday, adding that the ministry should investigate his motive.
She said such insidious tactics were reprehensible and wanted to know whether the government concurred with his action.
The Tawau MP also asked if this meant that the Ministry of Higher Education was rethinking an amendment to the law to allow university students above the age of 21 to take part in politics in the coming parliament session.

"We will wait for a public announcement from the ministry, otherwise it surely will send a negative image to the people on the impending announcement by the PSC (Parliament Select Committee) on electoral reform in April," she said.
Darman has since said he has explained the matter to the Education Ministry and was retracting his order.

Azman Habu, FMT