KOTA KINABALU: A former student suing her "absent teacher" was in tears as she told the court that she hoped her legal action would be a wake-up call to teachers to not neglect their students.
"I hope that what I am doing now will make some teachers realise that they should not neglect and look down on the 'lower' class, and give them the same level of education as the 'upper' class, that's all," said Siti Nafirah Siman in a teary voice.
Siti, 23, was testifying as the first witness before High Court judge Datuk Ismail Brahim.
The former student of SMK Taun Gusi, Kota Belud was answering an additional question from her counsel, Shireen Sikayun, on the first day of trial today.
In the suit filed on Oct 30, 2018, Siti had named Mohd Jainal Jamrin (her former teacher known as Sir JJ), Suid Hanapi (in his capacity as a principal of the SMK Taun Gusi), the Kota Belud district education officer, Sabah education director, director general of education, education minister, and the government as the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth defendants, respectively.
Siti claimed that the teacher had failed to turn up in class for seven months in 2015.
To another question, Siti listed the losses that she claimed to have suffered as a result of Jainal's failure to teach her the English language subject in Form Four.
Siti said she had not received a good education, had to learn the Form 4 syllabus in Form 5, and as a result of her poor education, had fewer job opportunities.
Siti said a "Buku Kawalan Kelas" logged the attendance of teachers.
Counsel: Please tell the court what does the teacher do with the Buku Kawalan Kelas when they enter the class to teach?
Siti: The teacher who taught the class will sign the book before a class ends.
Counsel: Have you seen the "Buku Kawalan"?
Siti: Yes.
Counsel: What did you notice about in the signature column for the English language subject of the "Buku Kawalan"?
Siti: From January to February 2015, Sir JJ always signs before leaving the class, but at the end of February and early March, until a week before our final exams, the signature column for Sir JJ was empty.
Siti said the "Buku Kawalan" for Class 4PD ( Siti's previous class) was kept by the school.
She said she had requested the "Buku Kawalan Kelas 4PD" from the defendants through her previous solicitors, but had not received it.
Counsel: When did you realise that you needed to take legal action against the defendants for what happened to you in 2015?
Siti: When we were preparing for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia in Form Five. My friends and I discussed that we were stressed about having to learn the Form 4 syllabus by ourselves and at the same time we had to take extra tuition as we did not get to learn the English subject during Form 4.
Counsel: Why did you not make a formal complaint about the first defendant to the second defendant?
Siti: I do not know how to write an official letter to complain to the principal (second defendant).
To another question, Siti said the principal told her and her classmates to write a letter to apologise and write good things about Sir JJ so he would teach them again.
"The principal said this is our 'Aku Janji' letter in which we apologised to Sir JJ and let him to enter the class and teach us again," she said, adding that the contents of the letter were untrue.
Counsel: Why did you write things that were untrue in the essay?
Siti: We were desperate. We needed an English teacher because we were due to sit for the final exams.
In her witness statement, Siti also said there were also instances where she felt harassed and/or intimidated after this case was publicised.
Senior Federal Counsel Mohd Hafizi Abd Halim and Federal Counsel Mohd Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir, acted for the defendants.
Trial continues.