Truant MPs and skiving teachers

SOME things never change. When I was studying during the 1960s and 70s, truancy was the main disciplinary problem in Malaysian schools.

It is still a major issue but there are bigger predicaments today: truant teachers and MPs playing hooky.

Let’s look at the problem of cikgu ponteng (skiving teachers) first.

Teacher absenteeism in remote rural schools – both primary and secondary – is prevalent throughout the country, but most cases are often swept under the carpet.

According to RakyatBangkit, a Sabah-based NGO comprising grassroots activists, teacher whistleblowers, parents and students, cases of teachers playing truant comprised 55.4% of all cases of indiscipline investigated by the Education Ministry between 2010 and 2017.

The NGO launched its Tiada.Guru campaign in 2018 to raise awareness to the growing problem and clamour for a clean and corruption-free education system.

Among other things, the campaign is aimed at ensuring independent investigations into cases of teacher indiscipline. The NGO also wants those involved to be prosecuted without fear or favour.

In 2009, a survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that 19.5% of headmasters and principals had reported cases of truant teachers to the ministry.

But this apathy changed after a landmark court decision in July.

Three former students of SMK Taun Gusi in Kota Belud, Sabah, Calvina Angayung, Nur Natasha Allisya and Rusiah Sabdarin, all 22, won their suit against their former English teacher, principal Suid Hanapi, the Education Minister, Education Ministry director-general and the Malaysian government.

In their suit, which they filed when they were 16, the former schoolgirls stated that the teacher, Mohd Jainal Jamran, did not turn up in class for seven months in 2017.

Kota Kinabalu High Court Judge Leonard David Shim ruled that the defendants breached their statutory duties and violated the students’ constitutional guarantee to education. The court awarded them RM50,000 each, to be paid by the defendants.

Among other things, the trial exposed corruption, nepotism, attempts to cover up the teacher’s misconduct by the director-general and the ministry, and also death threats against another teacher who brought Jainal’s misconduct to light.

Has Jainal been sacked? Have cases of cikgu ponteng been reduced since the court decision? There have been no clear answers

But according to Bangkit Rakyat’s website, extreme teacher absenteeism is an open secret and the ministry has repeatedly been forced to publicly acknowledge its existence.

“Why haven’t all these corrupt officers been disciplined or dismissed? Often, the corrupt protect the corrupt with such rationalisation: So what, if a family’s future is demolished? They’re poor anyway!”

As these victims of educational neglect are mostly the poor in rural areas or in disenfranchised communities, they get little attention from the media.

The latest issue of truancy under the spotlight involves the reputedly honourable elected representatives voted into Parliament.

Over the past week, there have been numerous stories in the media about the growing numbers of “YB Ponteng” and what should be done about them.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, who described it as “a serious concern for the public and netizens”, said he would discuss measures to address the matter, including “naming and shaming” them.

Since March, Dewan Rakyat proceedings had been temporarily paused three times due to a lack of quorum in the House.

Johari said he would raise the “list of shame” suggestion with a parliamentary panel of MPs from both the government and opposition.

He said the live coverage of Parliament sittings had made it easier for voters to know whether their representatives are doing their jobs.

As Speaker, he said, he only had powers to act if they were absent for six months.

He said while some absentees had valid reasons, such as being overseas, in meetings outside or attending meetings elsewhere in Parliament, the target was on those who were repeatedly absent without informing him.

In the previous 14th Parliament, the Perikatan Nasional leader and Bersatu president held the dubious honour of lowest attendance with a mere 24 days out of the 89 Dewan Rakyat sittings. His colleague in Perikatan, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang’s record was almost equally dismal at 28.

The figures were disclosed by civil society group MyMP, which released a report showing the number of times each of the 222 MPs showed up in the august House since they were elected in 2018.

But would the listing of “YB Ponteng” on the Dewan Rakyat website be an effective deterrent, given the lack of shame displayed by many of our politicians?

Cutting their salaries and allowances might be more potent. They must be made to feel the pinch of being irresponsible to the people who pay their salaries.

Currently, MPs earn a basic remuneration of RM16,000 a month while those appointed to the Dewan Negara get RM11,000.

They also get an entertainment allowance of RM1,500, a special payment of another RM1,500, a fixed travel allowance of RM1,500, a driver allowance of RM1,500, fuel allowance of another RM1,500 per month and toll allowance of RM300.

In addition, MPs get an attendance allowance of RM400 a day, RM300 for attending government agency meetings or workshops, business-class air travel allowance and first-class rail travel allowance.

They also get hotel allowance when overseas, and accommodation allowance of RM400 when on domestic duty for more than 32km from home. Their daily stipend during business trips is RM100 per night within the country and RM170 per night abroad, and a food allowance of RM340 per night.

That’s not all. Taxpayers also fund another RM1,500 subsidy for their black-tie suits.

MPs are also entitled to a pension after only 36 months of service; serving this minimum tenure would earn them a monthly pension of RM4,000.

Do our gaji buta (riding the gravy train) MPs deserve all this?

Media consultant M. Veera Pandiyan likes this quote from HL Mencken: “A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.” The views expressed here are the writer’s own.