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DAP tells ministry to revoke transfer order on teacher who protested new school policy

Utusan should be blamed for manipulating Muhyiddin’s remark, says DAP

DAP has urged the Education Ministry to revoke its disciplinary action against a teachers pressure group who had campaigned against the now-suspended controversial school-based assessment (SBA).

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang (pic) said the transfer order to Suara Guru Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM) chief Mohd Nor Izzat Mohd Johari and all teachers who criticised the SBA should be immediately revoked.

“The heavy-handed response by the Ministry to penalise Nor Izzat and teachers who criticized the SBA is totally uncalled for and unjustifiable and must be deplored as a very mean and cowardly manner to suppress legitimate criticism in the education service,” Lim said in a statement today.

Izzat received a notice of transfer from his Jerantut town school to a rural school in Pahang.

Education director-general Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof said the Education Ministry would announce the results of the SBA review after Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is satisfied with the proposed improvements.

He did not put a time frame for the review, but assured that criticisms would be taken into account.

The SBA, which does away with annual exams, was implemented in 2011 starting with Primary One pupils. In 2012, the ministry started implementing the SBA in all Form One classes, as part of the government’s efforts to produce more well-rounded students, instead of those purely excelling in studies.

Teachers are expected to grade pupils on a subject each day, based on a six-band spectrum starting from band one understand” (the lowest) to band six “exemplary” (the highest).

Lim said the SBA woes reflected the pitfalls of Putrajaya's educational transformation based on the recently announced educational blueprint, which drew criticism after it was revealed that highly-paid foreign consultants were engaged to draft the blueprint instead of local educational experts.

Lim called on Muhyiddin to give a full report to Parliament next month on the SBA fiasco.

Another teachers group, Persatuan Gerakan Kebangkitan Pendidik Kebangsaan (Pendidik), criticised the education ministry for victimising teachers who spoke out against the system.

"Teachers who have dared to criticise the system have been suspended, transferred numerous times and even sacked," said Pendidik president Normala Sudirman.

"In the past two weeks, Pendidik has received more than 100 complaints from teachers who have been disciplined by the Education Ministry."

Normala also said there had been cases where teachers were fired without the proper procedures. – February 24, 2014.