Johor SPM workshop issue comes to an end after special meeting of school's PTA

JOHOR BARU: The issue of only Muslim students attending an SPM workshop at an all-girl’s school here has finally come to an end after a special meeting involving members of the schools Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) on Sunday (Jan 29).

In a media statement, the PTA of SMK Infant Jesus Convent Johor Baru outlined four measures to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in future.

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Among them include keeping all PTA committee members informed about all school programmes from the initial stages, with all due processes for approvals, organising and staging of such events to be forwarded to PTA members and the school’s parent’s support (KSIB) WhatsApp chat group to be completely transparent with guidelines on ethical communications within the group to be made known to all.

"Lastly in adherence to Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar’s call, the PTA will ensure that all future school events or programmes will be conducted fairly and equally for all students," the media statement signed by seven PTA members said.

ALSO READ: SPM workshop was meant for all students regardless of race, says Education Ministry

However, PTA chairman Nusution Putra Saad Putra was not among those mentioned in the statement.

The statement also mentioned that based on their (PTA) findings, no due process in the approval and organisation of the programme was done for the Program Ilmu Sosial Islam, which was held at Suasana Hotel Johor Baru on Jan 19 and 20 for 30 Muslim students.

ALSO READ: Public programmes must include everyone, says Johor Sultan

The workshop sessions covered Islamic topics, as well as Chemistry and Additional Mathematics.

"Not all PTA members were informed of such a programme. On Jan 25, another workshop was held for all students to attend at the school.

"Again due process was not observed in the organisation of another programme on Jan 27 for 21 students who failed or had near misses, which was again held at the same hotel," the statement added.

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The PTA accepts principal Ande Noor’s explanation that moving forward the flow of information must be made known to all across the board.

"The matter was accepted by the PIBG committee because those involved have apologised," said the statement.

Earlier, The Star had quoted Nasution as saying that the issue of only Muslim students attending an SPM workshop had been blown out of proportion.

ALSO READ: SPM workshop issue blown out of proportion, says PTA chairman

The issue was first highlighted on social media and it went viral about the school allegedly organising an SPM workshop only for Muslim students.

The school held a two-day, one-night SPM workshop for only Muslim students at a hotel, saying that it will only involve religious-related subjects.

However, it turned out to be a comprehensive workshop covering subjects such as Chemistry, Additional Mathematics and other subjects.

This prompted Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar to also issue a statement that no one should be left out of any public programmes because of their race or religion.