SUNGAI PETANI: The services of a religious teacher, who had allegedly beaten a secondary school student in Baling, near here, has been terminated with immediate effect.
Deputy Education Minister 1 Datuk P. Kamalanathan, who expressed his disappointment over the incident, said a police report has already been lodged concerning the matter.
"Since a report has been lodged, we leave it to police to probe the matter.
"I am very disappointed that such an incident has occurred. I have said before, disciplining and hurting are two different things.
"Teachers should control their emotions. They should inform the parents, if the child is naughty," he told reporters tonight prior to the opening of the Young Academician Leadership Convention (YALE) at the Asia Institute of Medical, Science and Technology (AIMST).
Kamalanathan added that the ministry will continue to keep a close watch to ensure such an incident does not recur.
It was reported that the student, Farah Izzati Mohd Rohaizad, 13, sustained a fractured arm in the 8.30pm incident on Monday night, and was given a month-long medical leave.
Izzati had alleged that prior to the incident, she and two other schoolmates had been summoned by the teacher, who teaches al-Quran and Fardhu Ain classes, to the school hall for class.
Izzati alleged that when they were about to take their seats, the teacher suddenly hit their backs several times with a plastic chair.
She was quoted as saying that she tried to block the hits using her arms, but the chair smacked the back of her hand.
Izzati claimed that as a result, she had to sleep in pain in the school hostel, before another teacher took her to the Baling Hospital the next day, after her hand swelled up.
She reportedly said two bones on the back of her hand were broken.
Her father, Mohd Rohaizad Abdullah, 36, subsequently lodged a police report.