KOTA KINABALU: No action was taken against an English teacher of SMK Taun Gusi, Kota Belud who did not turn up to teach the subject in 2015, although the matter was raised in a meeting, the High Court heard today.
Witness Norhana Idek, 45, told judge Datuk Ismail Brahim that she had attended a meeting on Aug 24, 2015 chaired by the district education officer.
The meeting was to discuss Mohd Jainal Jamran's absenteeism but there had been no solution offered by the district education officer.
The former language department head of SMK Taun Gusi was answering questions from senior federal counsel Mohd Hafizi Abd Halim during cross-examination today.
Norhana was subpoenaed to testify as the fourth witness in the trial of a suit brought by the school's former student, Siti Nafirah Siman, now 23.
In the suit filed on Oct 30, 2018, Siti Nafirah had named her ex-English teacher Jainal as the first defendant. The other defendants are Suid Hanapi (as then principal of SMK Taun Gusi), the Kota Belud district education officer, Sabah education director, education director-general, education minister and the government.
Hafizi: What was the solution from the meeting?
Norhana: As far as I remember, there was no specific solution from the district education officer.
Hafizi: What was the action taken on Jainal based on the meeting?
Norhana: As far as I remember, no action was taken.
Hafizi: Based on your answer above, this shows that Jainal's non-attendance was not an issue. Therefore, no action was taken against him. Do you agree?
Norhana: I am not sure.
Norhana had been referred to a police report dated Dec 6, 2018, regarding a number of 'Buku Pengurusan Kelas' (also known as 'Buku Kawalan Kelas') that went missing from the teacher's room of the school.
To a suggestion, the witness agreed that the 'Buku Kawalan Kelas' was used to record the attendance of students and subject teachers.
She further agreed to a suggestion that the 'Buku Kawalan Kelas' was filled up by a class monitor. However, she said, sometimes teachers would fill it up themselves after or at the beginning of a learning session.
Norhana also agreed that no signature in the 'Buku Kawalan Kelas' was not an indication that a teacher did not turn up to teach.
She explained that the 'Buku Kawalan Kelas' was the school's initiative under Student Affairs to keep track of student attendance and mistakes.
Hafizi: Based on your explanation, does this mean that Jainal may not have signed the 'Buku Kawalan Kelas' but he did enter the class to teach?
Norhana: I am not sure.
Another subpoena witness, Muarifin Sufianto Mohchoeri, testified during examination-in-chief by the plaintiff's counsel Shireen Sikayun that he had visited SMK Taun Gusi from the state education department in 2015.
The sixth witness said a lot of things were discussed, including the teachers' failure to teach. However, the issues were not referring to a specific person.
To another question, Muarifin said the state education department did not specifically take any action against Jainal but he had informed the school to take action on any teacher who failed to turn up to teach.
Federal Counsel Mohd Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir also acted for the defendants.
The trial resumes tomorrow.
