Ismail said he was informed about the incident this morning and had later contacted education director-general Pkhairuddin Ghazali to get a further explanation.

A disciplinary committee would be meeting tomorrow, chaired by the education ministry’s secretary-general Yusran Shah Mohd Yusof, to discuss the matter, Ismail said.

“Show cause letters are common in government departments, but I hope a positive decision can be reached at tomorrow’s meeting,” he said. He hoped that the teacher’s fear of being fired or demoted and so on would not happen.

“The ministry cannot let its staff who make comments (on social media) go scot-free. But, at the same time, too harsh a punishment for officers and staff is also inappropriate,” Ismail said.

“Officers and staff also need to respect the ministry,” he told reporters after a Deepavali event in his Bera parliamentary constituency.

The education ministry should listen to the views of not only teachers, but also the community, in order to maintain its integrity, he said.

He noted that based on the reaction received after the issue went viral, many had given negative feedback.

Yesterday, Fadli, a mathematics teacher at a primary school in Gombak, had said that he feared dismissal or a demotion for stating that the primary school mathematics syllabus was of too high a standard and inappropriate for pupils.

He said there were also too many pupils in the class and they had too many subjects to study.

Fadli also highlighted the issue of children having to carry heavy school bags as this was harmful to them.

Earlier today, education minister Radzi Jidin, in a Facebook post, expressed his willingness to meet the teacher. Fadli also stated on his social media account that he would meet Radzi.