Jainal Jamran is an English teacher at SMK Taun Gusi in Kota Belud. He had a strange work habit. He went to school to teach on some days, but also chose not to turn up for work on other days i.e. up to 7 months in 2017!
Was he sick? Was he on leave? Was he on other school-related duties? Well, records from Sabah Education Department showed that he was just absent – no reasons were given.
Jainal’s absence affected the lives of at least 3 diligent students who looked forward to learning English in school and preparing well for the examinations. The absence of the teacher denied them their inalienable right to education, their constitutional rights under the supreme law of the land – the Federal Constitution.
The 3 students decided to take the English teacher to Court. In 2020, they filed a suit through their solicitors naming Jainal, the school’s principal, the Director-General of Education, the Minister of Education and the Malaysian Government as Defendants. They claimed the Defendants breached their statutory duties and violated the students’ constitutional right.
Amazingly, they succeeded in their suit earlier this year.
Under the Education Act 1996, every school has a statutory duty to prepare its students for examinations (see section 19). Apart from that, there are several fundamental liberties enshrined in the Federal Constitution, which every Malaysian is entitled to enjoy. One of those fundamental liberties is the right to education (see Article 12). No one can violate this basic right without consequences, even the Government.
Justice Leonard David Shim, the presiding High Court Judge in the suit brought by the 3 students, made a landmark decision when he held that the Defendants failed to prepare the students for examinations and therefore breached their statutory duties. The Judge also found that the students’ constitutional rights to access education were violated on account of the teacher’s absence and the principal’s non-action on the matter.
Whilst conventionalists may be of the view that legal action taken by students against the educators was disrespectful, the above case serves as a timely reminder that no public officer is free to disregard his/her statutory duty or the Federal Constitution, and where this is the case, the law will make him/her accountable for that breach, particularly so when it comes to something as important as education. If students’ attendances are a barometer of their personal discipline, the same should apply to the educators.
Students are the future of the nation, and educators bear Atlas-level responsibility to nurture and shape individuals as well as provide them with the tools they need to succeed. For this to happen, a student’s access to education should never be denied or neglected.
So, teacher, if I don’t see you in class, I might sue you in Court!
About the Author
Afiq Iskandar is a Legal Associate of XK Law. He graduated from MARA University of Technology, Malaysia. Afiq has multiple interests in life beyond reading law viz. sports, film, music and poetry. He believes that art, in whatever form they may be, is a necessity of life.
