Parents all over Malaysia must have been horrified to learn that a headmaster who had allegedly been sharing porn sites on WhatsApp was recently transferred to a rural school to “calm things down.”
The proper thing to do would have been to suspend him and launch an investigation. That would mean seizing his computers and hand phones and inspecting them for the sites he accessed and the contacts with whom he might have shared these sites.
It would also involve questioning his colleagues and friends and finding out if children under his care were at risk of abuse or if he had engaged in any criminal activity.
The authorities need to examine his confidential file to see if he has been implicated in any sexual scandal, even if it was unproven.
So, why did the Sabah Education Department adopt a sticking-plaster approach to this serious issue? Why adopt the out-of-sight-out-of-mind policy?
Is the department aware of how severe the allegations are? Is it doing enough to protect vulnerable children?
Some parents have in fact spoken of their concerns in interviews with a mainstream paper.
The shortsighted decision to transfer the headmaster to a rural school may endanger the safety of the children in his new location.
Sabah Education Director Jame Alip, in trying to appease angry parents, said this “isolated case” was a “delicate matter” and the best solution was to transfer the headmaster.
Who is going to monitor the behaviour of this headmaster at his new school? If this case is not investigated properly, he will be able to erase the hard drive of his computer and other electronic devices.
How does Jame know that this is an “isolated case”? Can he provide the statistics to prove that scandals such as this one are rare?
There are additional worries. Parents would like to know if this headmaster had accessed child pornography, had taken photos of children and then shared them with his chat group.
The most severe punishment, according to a government official, would be to sack him, provided there is sufficient evidence to prove his guilt and the rigorous standard operating procedures are followed.
The Secretary-General of the National Union of the Teaching Profession said the headmaster had set a bad example for other school heads and suggested that he be sent for counselling. She claimed that the case was “subjective” because there was no law prohibiting the sharing of pornography.
Actually, under Malaysian law, no one is allowed to be in possession of pornographic materials. Neither is anyone allowed to share such materials.
The Sabah Education Department needs to get its act together. What is the school’s board of governor’s opinion about the way the department handled the problem? Will there be more rigorous vetting in the recruitment of headmasters?
Mariam Mokhtar is an FMT columnist.