ALOR STAR: Students of SRJK Keat Hwa (S) in Kampung Baru here were in for a rude shock early this morning when they were locked out of school by guards who claimed to have not been paid for the past three months.
Parents, students, teachers and canteen operators who had arrived as early as 6.30am found themselves unable to enter the school grounds before the day's session began.
A white banner was hung on the fence outside the school, stating in red the plea of the security guards to their company for their salary, arrears in their salary, and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions to be paid as they had families to care of, that they needed to eat, and had rent to pay.
They also pleaded for the district Education office to assist them.
The school’s coordinator, Lim Gek Leng, said the gates were only opened about 7am after one of the teachers climbed the gate into the compound and retrieved the keys from the guard post.
“The students still managed to make it in time for classes,” he said.
Lim said the guards told him that up until this month, they had only been paid a total of RM800, when they should have been paid a monthly salary of RM1,600.
“They have been surviving on biscuits and water all this while,” he said.
Lim added that he was told by the security company representative that the four guards would be paid an initial amount of RM1,000 each.