KOTA KINABALU: A former language department head of SMK Taun Gusi in Kota Belud only made one report to her superior although an English teacher failed to do his job for about seven months, the High Court heard today.
Subpoena witness Norhana Idek, 45, who is currently district education assistant officer in Kota Belud, agreed to a suggestion by the plaintiff's counsel, Shireen Sikayun, that her action was not adequate, given the seriousness of the matter.
Norhana was testifying as the fourth witness before High Court judge Datuk Ismail Brahim at the trial of a suit brought by Siti Nafirah Siman over an English teacher's absenteeism in 2015.
In the suit filed on Oct 30, 2018, Siti Nafirah, now 23, had named Mohd Jainal Jamran (her former English teacher known as Sir JJ), Suid Hanapi (as then principal of the SMK Taun Gusi), the Kota Belud district education officer, Sabah education director, the education director-general, the education minister and the government as defendants.
Shireen: The first defendant failed to submit his 'Rancangan Mengajar Harian' from February to August 2015 and you only reported it once, correct?
Norhana: Yes.
Shireen: Since the first defendant did not submit his 'Rancangan Mengajar Harian' from February to August 2015 when they were due in 2015, I suggest that you signed and dated the daily entries at a later time, sometime after this suit was filed in 2018, correct?
Norhana: When monitoring was held, he (Jainal) presented the record book and in 2015, I made a mistake by signing every week. At that time, my understanding was Jainal did not submit the reports but there was maybe a certain week he prepared the report. In 2018, when this suit was filed, I realised the mistake and wanted to correct it because I didn't want to cheat. I have told the truth to the Sabah Education Department that my signature every week was a mistake. The official from the department has recommended that I cancel the signature each week and replace it with a signature dated August to which he (Jainal) has sent the teaching record book.
Shireen: I suggest to you that this 'Rancangan Mengajar Harian' had been fabricated, created at a later date, either signed and backdated or pre-signed and the lesson plan pasted over. Therefore, it cannot be relied on to show the first defendant had entered the class to teach.
Norhana: I agree that this document does not prove that teacher Jainal entered the class because as the name suggests, the daily teaching plan is made in preparation for entering the class. It cannot determine whether a person enters the class or not.
Norhana, however, disagreed with suggestions that the reason she had backdated her signatures in August 2015 was because she wanted to cover up Jainal's failure to enter class to teach as well as protect the other defendants.
Norhana also testified that she was unsure whether her failure to take action against Jainal for failure to submit his 'Rancangan Mengajar Harian' on time and the poor quality of the plan had resulted in him flouting his duties as a teacher.
To another question, the witness admitted that in 2015, she did not perform her duties well.
"Since I moved to the school (SMK Taun Gusi) in 2012, there had been many internal issues in the English committee. In 2013 and 2014, I had to teach two sessions - morning and afternoon - because no teacher was willing to do so.
"As language department head, I made the sacrifice of teaching two sessions.
"Nurhaizah as the English committee chairman had complained to me that English teachers did not give their commitment.
"In 2015, I once again made the sacrifice of teaching the entire evening session," Norhana said, adding that she was also involved in the English Teaching Assistant programme in 2014 and 2015 due to the reluctance of English teachers cooperate.
She added that almost all English activities were planned and conducted by herself and Nurhaizah only.
Norhana further disclosed that the then principal never supported or gave any solution to the issues.
"I think it was the duty of the principal and senior administrative assistant to monitor the presence of teachers in the classroom.
"But, during my time at the school, there was never any monitoring by these administrators.
"To be honest, in 2015, I suffered from depression, often got sick and was always crying due to the pressure of managing English teachers.
"This is one of the reasons for my weakness in carrying out my duties because I felt that I could no longer take action," she said.
Meanwhile, another subpoena witness, Cikgu Awang Erawan, said in 2015, he knew about Jainal's failure to attend classes but he did not know whether it was an open secret.
Senior federal counsel Mohd Hafizi Abd Halim and federal counsel Mohd Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir acted for the defendants.