KUALA LUMPUR: The industrial court upheld the dismissal of a Tati University College lecturer for awarding grades to three absent students and failing to grade three others who were present at their final exams.
The court found the 53-year-old lecturer guilty on all four charges brought by the state-owned institution, including wrongly marking scripts and awarding grades without proper evaluation, FMT reported.
In the judgment dated June 20, Industrial court chairman D Paramalingam said that the lecturer's "misdeeds cannot be viewed lightly".
He emphasised the severity of the lecturer's actions, noting the potential impact on students' futures and the institution's reputation.
"Her actions are very serious because they can affect the future of the students, some of whom depend on scholarships, loans from the National Higher Education Fund and the public services department," Paramalingam said.
The lecturer, who had been employed since 2014 on short-term contracts, was terminated after a domestic inquiry in 2020 confirmed her misconduct. Despite her defence of excessive workload and a faulty grading system, the court dismissed her claims due to lack of evidence.
The inquiry found her guilty of awarding incorrect grades and not properly marking examination scripts. Specifically, she was charged with:
-Awarding B grades to two students and a B+ to another in the Malaysian Studies paper despite their absence from the exam.
-Failing to grade three students who attended the same exam.
-Preparing incorrect answer scripts.
-Awarding grades without properly marking the scripts.
During the trial, a college official testified that the grading errors had been rectified, and the correct grades were subsequently awarded. The case also involved issues with group work grading and unmarked scripts for which grades were assigned.
The court highlighted that such misconduct could damage the institution's reputation, especially during certification audits. Previous issues with the lecturer included placing wrong cover pages on exam papers and inappropriate social media interactions.
Following her termination, the lecturer claimed wrongful dismissal but the court upheld the university's decision, stressing that her actions undermined her integrity as a lecturer.