JOHOR BARU – A mother who raised concerns about the administration of SMK Convent Infant Jesus here for allegedly organising an SPM workshop exclusively for Muslim students is currently facing backlash from other parents.
Anisha (not her real name) had questioned the school’s administration over the matter in a parent-teacher WhatsApp group and ended up being labelled a racist for raising the issue.
She told The Vibes she had come to know from another parent that Muslim students at the all-girls school were scheduled to attend an SPM workshop at Suasana Hotel on January 19 and 20.
“When I questioned the matter in the WhatsApp group, others in the chat came out with their guns blazing and started calling me a racist for turning this into an issue,” Anisha said when contacted.
The issue, according to Anisha, was that the school segregated students according to race, which she found hard to accept.
Anisha said she is not the only one receiving brickbats for speaking out, as students who also raised the matter have received insults from their classmates.
“At school, students have been arguing with each other because their parents have spoken out regarding this issue,” she said.
Anisha was not the only parent who expressed concerns to the school’s administration.
But when more parents began questioning the school about the workshop in the WhatsApp group, the chat administrator proceeded to block participants from sending texts.
On Tuesday, the Education Ministry in a statement refuted allegations of discrimination by the school’s administration, stating that the workshop was held in different sessions for students of different races to avoid disrupting Chinese New Year celebrations.
However, Anisha said that the response by the ministry was unsatisfactory.
She pointed out that only after the matter went viral on social media did the school’s administration proceed to announce that another SPM workshop would be held for non-Muslim students.
This, Anisha said, was merely an afterthought that still results in the segregation of students according to race.
We just have to let them believe it is not segregation.
“On our part, we believe that there was an intention to segregate,” Anisha said.
Parents still prevented from communicating with school
Another parent, Fiona (not her real name) also believed that the second SPM workshop meant for non-Muslim students was an afterthought by the school’s administration.
She said when concerns about the workshop for Muslim students were first raised with the headmistress, there was no mention of another session.
Initially, when this matter was raised in the Whatsapp chat, the headmistress only said that the workshop was for Malay students who are not performing well academically.
“At that time, there was no mention of a second workshop yet for other students,” Fiona told The Vibes.
The Education Ministry has claimed that the workshop was organised by the Johor Baru district education office, with the assistance of the school administrator, parent-teacher association and other support groups.
The ministry further pointed out that the issue arose due to poor communication and that improvements will be made to avoid similar situations in the future.
However, Fiona said communication has yet to improve, as some parents are still shut off from the WhatsApp group.
“First of all, when the matter was brought up, I don’t think they should have shut us down just for questioning their secret workshop.
“Now, how is the school going to communicate with us (parents)?” Fiona asked.
On January 24, reports surfaced over the school allegedly conducting an SPM workshop exclusively for poor-performing Muslim students.
The matter was highlighted by Twitter user Anne Louis on January 23, who said that the two-day-and-one-night workshop was announced as a session for Islamic studies students only, but was later found to have covered all SPM subjects causing non-Muslim students to feel left out. – The Vibes, January 28, 2023
