Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

October 29, 2021

Dong Zong and Jiao Zong were perturbed to learn that the ongoing school construction of Puchong SJK(C) Too Joon Hing was instructed to halt by the Secretary General of the MOE sine explanation. With the deepest regret, Dong Zong and Jiao Zong forward their joint statement herewith:

1. Dong Jiao Zong understands that the construction of Puchong SJK(C) Too Joon Hing was approved by the MOE in October 2017, which was one of the ten new Chinese primary schools to be constructed. Currently, construction is underway and it is scheduled to be completed in 2023 for the benefits of the students. Yet a directive letter was issued to the school authority on 25 October 2021 unexpectedly by Yusran Shah Mohd Yusof, the Secretary General of the Education Ministry, to stop the construction without explanation, to the deepest regret and perturbance of Dong Jiao Zong.

2. As per the Deputy Education Minister Mah Hang Soon’s response when interviewed by journalist, this act of the ministry was said to reassess all the data and documents submitted by SJK(C) Too Joon Hing to clarify if the current location of the school fits into the standard operation procedure. Dong Jiao Zong reckons from the very outset, SJK(C) Too Joon Hing had been approved to construct, change the construction location and start construction congruent with the standard operation procedure approved and formulated by the previous MOE. Therefore, the halt of the ongoing construction out of the blue is unintelligible and irrational which leaves the school authority in limbo hence revealing the unprofessionalism of the MOE.

3. With this understanding, Dong Jiao Zong urges the MOE to address the matter immediately to ensure smooth construction of the said primary school for the interest of national education. In actual fact, since the approval of the construction, the construction project of SJK(C) Too Joon Hing has been postponed for four consecutive years, and now that the agreement is broken unexpectedly. Truth be told, Chinese communities fear that the construction project would not be completed as scheduled which is what most people hate to see.

4. Ten new vernacular Chinese primary schools were approved to be built in October 2017, though several approved schools have not begun their construction until today; one of these schools, Tan Kah Kee Chinese primary school’s construction permit was transferred to SJK(C) Chung Ching clandestinely in December 2018 to be SJK(C) Chung Ching 2. This translates, the ten schools have been reduced to nine thus far. Now that the construction of SJK(C) Too Joon Hing has again experienced twists and turns which accelerates the difficulty of the problem, particularly the opaque decision of the government which will surely give rise to discontentment among the Chinese communities.

5. Dong Jiao Zong maintains, the additional construction of vernacular Chinese primary schools has long been the sole hope of the Chinese communities to address the insufficiency of Chinese primary schools. Since independence, vernacular Chinese primary schools have been part of the main stream education system. That said, the government has the obligation to unify the school construction system and treat schools of other streams equally, let alone to be fully responsible for all construction expenses and the reservation of school land for school construction of all streams formally, Chinese and Tamil inclusive, in order to solve the school construction matter once and for all.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

October 8, 2021

Cyberbullying towards Female Decried—

Speedier Gender Equality Legislation Urged

The video footage Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam posted online was recently montaged with obscene visuals and misused by the splenetic; it happens that Ain Husniza posted a clip on the net revealing the sexual bullying towards her by a male teacher in April at her school. Truth be told, this montage has gone viral for some time now. Dong Jiao Zong strongly decries this female-abuse cyberbullying and calls for barrack support from all sectors as well as urging the government to provide the victim with well-timed protection and assistance by forwarding the ‘Sexual Harassment Prevention Act’ in the parliament for approval sooner.

This is not the first time Ain Husniza has ever been cyberbullied; honestly, it evidences the lack of gender equality awareness in our society and worse still, the society is indifferent towards the employment of obscene video to attack whistleblower in the education domain. We back the victim and opine she should seek deterrent legal action as this malicious act is intolerable in a civilized society and must be decried blatantly. Generally, females are prone to be sexually intimidated despite courageous disclosures of sexual harassment in school campus, sports domain and office. But we regret to witness perfunctory settlement in general. This desultory approach factually takes no action against the suspect, instead it indirectly allows the perpetrator to demand monetary compensation or pressurize the victim in bid to achieve the gagging effect.

Ever since Ain Husniza had exposed the raping banter of the male teacher on social media, she has become the attack target of many netizens, let alone the menace from her teacher (perpetrator) demanding compensation, together with raping threats from her classmates. Soon after the submission of the investigation report to the chief prosecutor by the police, Ain’s case was adjudicated on June 8 yet no prosecution ensued. On 28 April, the MOE promised to look into the case yet after more than six months no progress has been seen. Obviously, the ‘Sexual Harassment Prevention Act’ has not been proactively introduced in the parliament by the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development. Since no measures are taken to address Ain’s case by the prosecutor, the MOE as well as the said Ministry, nothing can hardly absolve them from all the blame for the ongoings.

Eyeballing the happenings, we strongly urge the government to take a ‘zero tolerance’ position for sexual harassment by putting the ‘Sexual Harassment Prevention Act’ and ‘Gender Equality Act’ in practice; these Acts indeed can uplift women’s rights and welfare from gender suppression institutionally. We believe more women and children can avoid violence and enjoy dignity as well as equal life merely through legislation and stringent enforcement of the law, along with the establishment of anti-sexual harassment mechanism at societal level.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

August 27, 2021

To Finish off Uncomplete Tasks of Previous Tenure Urged—

Dong Jiao Zong Prompts MOE to complete with Concerted Effort

Immediate after the announcement of the new cabinet line-up, we opine the major tasks to be tackled by the new Prime Minister Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob comprise economic recovery, the narrowing of gap between the rich and the poor as well as facing up to educational challenges. As the former Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin and Deputy Minister Mah Hang Soon are reassuming the same posts in this cabinet line-up, they are expected to come up with post-pandemic teaching plans and finish off the tasks scheduled in their last tenure besides mapping a succinct school reopening plan; these uncomplete tasks include the additional recruitment of teachers in vernacular primary Chinese schools and the mechanism for gender equality in school campus, etc.

Weighing on the raging pandemic, we maintain that the school reopening plan is intended for both pandemic prevention and students’ learning needs. With regard to the school reopening plan, considerations should take locations, educators and parent representatives into account; concurrently, regional units need to be empowered in congruence with the MOE guidelines for decision on closure and reopening of schools depending on diverse situation. Simultaneously, we strongly recommend the MOE to refer to the Framework for Reopening School published by the UNESCO lately for upcoming implementation.

We herewith forward our proposals proper:

1. School teachers to get vaccinated: The Perikatan Nasional government had promised to prioritise all teachers in both national and private schools (MICSSs inclusive) nationwide to get vaccinated against COVID-19, yet no update is announced by the new MOE thus far. Apart from teachers, we believe candidates sitting for level promotion examination this year need to get vaccinated earlier, including school staff, general affairs workers, security guards and canteen operators. More importantly, whether students aged from 12 to 17 are to receive vaccination should be finalised shortly.

2. Redress of inequality in education: The MOE should publish whether the 150 thousand laptops promised by the former Perikatan Nasional government to students from low-income families are properly dispatched. As there is disparity between rural and urban areas in living condition, the MOE needs to prevent the worsening of education inequality prevailing rural areas through online classes, educational TV channels and radio broadcasts. Moreover, subject exercises in hard-copy and supplementary learning materials need to be sent to unreachable TV and radio coverage regions and aboriginal areas in order to alleviate lagging learning progress and intensified educational inequality imputed to school closure.

3. Concern for teachers’ spiritual and physical health and track learning effectiveness: The closure of schools impacts students’ learning progress, in particular socioeconomically underprivileged students; they are feared to lag behind attributed to sustaining school closure and may lose interest in studies or worse still, drop out from schools. Similarly, teachers will be stressed out by the new teaching model. To address the issue, the MOE is urged to establish a long-term tracking system to keep tabs on students’ learning as well as introducing relevant remedied measures to provide stress relieving counselling for both teachers and students timely.

4. To finish off uncomplete tasks of previous tenure: In terms of Chinese education issues like the systematic appropriation for MICSSs and three privately-run tertiary institutions, the shortage of teachers in vernacular Chinese primary schools as well as the recognition of the UEC, there is ample room for the late Perikatan Nasional government to make improvement. Hitherto the MOE has not released the report of the gender bullying case took place at school, let alone the remedied mechanism for gender equality in school campus. It is reckoned the digital gap generated by distance teaching practised during the pandemic has impacted the learning right of students in rural region; inevitably, the MOE and the Ministry of Higher Learning are expected to resolve the matter by optimising the infrastructure of internet. These unfinished tasks left by the former MOE need to be finished off by the reappointed ministers with concerted effort in the new cabinet line-up.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

August 12, 2021

School Reopening Decision Way Too Coarse—

MOE’s Review of Implementation Urged

Dong Jiao Zong reckons it hasty in the phasic school reopening announcement made by the MOE which begs for sound and preparatory plan, thus an immediate review and rectification is urged.

The MOE had pronounced in mid July 2021 that all schools nationwide should reopen in stages from 1^st September onwards. Now that the deadline is approaching, all teachers and parents expect a substantial explanation. In fact, despite the ravaging COVID-19 and surging of cases each day, measures and schedules decided by the MOE officials have not been publicly pronounced.

Factually, since the school reopening directive was announced by the MOE, doubts have been formed among the general public. Yet the MOE has not taken the initiative to forward any substantial measures and preparatory plans. Contrarily, only belated announcement was made by the MOE recently requesting all state school supervisors across the country to collect views from primary six, secondary three and five student parents randomly on the September school reopening. Obviously, ever since the announcement of the September school reopening in July, the MOE has not followed up and communicated with party concerned, let alone seeking views from educational organisations for a blanket plan which addresses school safety and teaching progress.

Judging from the responses toward the COVID-19 pandemic as well as execution power, the MOE is stereotypically believed to fall short of expectations as it is not the first incident ever. Last year, for instance, the delayed dispatch of 150 laptops promised to B40 families was denounced widely. Moreover, the ‘Lost Generation’ issue resulting from the raging pandemic was also cautioned by educationists successively. Educationists believe that enduring school closure detrimentally affects learning progress and effect, in particular students from underprivileged families as they need more resources and supports. Since students are grounded at home mandatorily for a long period—lacking social interactions, recreations and physical exercises—their mental and physical health will be affected consequently. Unfortunately, no remedied measures were raised by the MOE actively and initiatively in response.

We posit, the MOE needs to replace their pessimistic and closed-door attitude with a proactive one which initiatively communicates and listens to public views. In addition, the MOE is expected to clearly explain their policy vision and implementation details.

Prevailing social-economic issues like unsuccessful handling of pandemic, commercial depression, parliament session suspension and instable political situation exhibit the impotence of Perikatan Nasional government in governance. In reality, the power struggle indulgence of the political parties and want of sound managerial plan have pushed the general public into troubled waters, including the price heavily paid in the educational domain. We therefore urge officials of the MOE to bravely shoulder their responsibilities during this trying period to show crisis management leadership and not to muddle on habitually making coarse decision.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

August 5, 2021

MOE to Look into Sexual Bullying in Schools Urged—

Child and Women Rights Assurance Must Be in Place

Dong Jiao Zong herein urges the MOE to promptly disclose the investigation progress of the recent sexual bullying case happened in school and advises the teacher concerned to confront the investigation calmly by dropping the slander lawsuit against his female student, the whistle blower Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam. In actual fact, Malaysia as a contracting nation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, needs to review its extant enactments and should not be indifferent towards the rights of children and women in bid to bridge the world by observing international conventions.

Herewith, we urge the teacher concerned to exhibit ethical discipline and professionalism by dropping his charge against Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam for her ‘defamatory’ video clip. We believe, the teacher should instead reflect on his inappropriate utterances and apologises for the harm caused to the student. Concurrently, the MOE is urged to look into the case seriously by formulating remedied plan and mechanism as Ain’s case is merely the tip of the iceberg. By the same token, it is also to promote gender equality awareness thus creating a safe and healthy learning environment for students; rather, to prevent them from becoming the next victim in destructive gender bias culture.

Immediately after the exposure of the ‘Ain incident’, though Radzi Jidin, the Education Minister, promised to look into the case on 28 April, no disclosure of investigation reports was seen after several days or, more precisely, any measures forwarded on the improvement of gender equality to deter sexual bullying in schools. However, the All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) had unexpectedly managed to collect 275 allegations of sexual bullying in schools within ten days after the incident. The data reveal the worrying state of school harassment and rife sexual bullying in Malaysian schools. Weighing on this, we believe the MOE should look into it seriously by forming an independent investigation unit on sexual bullying in schools for the prevention of child sexual abuse.

In this era viewing child rights as a common understanding, besides professional competent, a teacher should adhere to human rights guidelines. Rather, all educators should be informed on the basic spirit and principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We suggest the MOE should refer to the gender equality observation report for 2021 submitted by Asia-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW) which concludes the want of improvement in gender education in Malaysian schools. Their proposals additionally include the building of gender equality awareness for teachers, the learning of human rights and gender equality for school authority and the imminent review of existing counselling system and quality in schools.

In our opinion, only a government which truly feels for child and woman victims and bravely shoulders the obligation can then be mandated on the safeguard of children and women safety. Since Malaysia is a contracting nation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, it bears the obligation and responsibility to assure and uphold gender equality as well as basic child rights and respect. As such, incident like Ain and others should not have happened in the first place. We understand that all the sexual bullying cases in schools compromise the healthy development of children and the status of women stated in the said conventions. Further, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child likewise assures the freedom of speech for many a student. Therefore, the disciplinary prosecution resorted to by the school against the child speaking for her rights obviously gives rise to incorrectness.

Statement Released by Dong Zong

July 9, 2021

Announcement of Secondary and Primary School Special Teacher Recruitment Urged—BA Holders or Graduating Undergraduates Are Strongly Recommended to Apply

Through the Education Service Commission (SPP), the MOE had pronounced recently to recruit a total of 18,702 grade ‘DG41’ teachers and BA degree holders in both primary and national high schools from July 7 to 21 on a one-off basis. It is to address teacher shortage issue once and for all. Accordingly, the recruited candidates will be posted for teaching in October. Dong Zong herewith responds as follows:

We welcome both the MOE and Education Service Commission for the exercise of this teacher recruitment project and urge relevant department to promptly disclose the required number of vacancies for all subjects in the said schools. It is for the convenience of the applicants to suitably partake and opt their desired subject to meet the imminent needs. Further, it helps to avoid the influx of applications for particular subjects while lacking in other which may disappoint most of the applicants, thus making it unsuccessful in filling the vacant posts.

As understood, the MOE allows this special teacher recruitment to be open to all education-major Malaysian graduates from local public or private universities or overseas graduates and undergraduates in their last semester recognised by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) for application in the recruitment system (mySPP). The MOE likewise has promised, in case the number of education-major applicants is insufficient, non-education-major applicants will instead be accepted through various methods of appointment in the next phase for the vacancies. Yet the defect being, no intake of preschool teachers in this special recruitment is noted and thus making it unhelpful towards the development of preschool education in vernacular Chinese primary schools.

All this while, vernacular Chinese primary schools nationwide have been overshadowed by teacher shortage issue; particularly in recent years when many subjects (for instance, Bahasa Melayu, Fine Arts, Physical Exercise, Music, Design and Technology, Guidance and Counselling, Preschool Education and Special Education) are in short of applicants, while other subjects such as Chinese and Mathematics have excessive applicants, thus ending up disappointment for many applicants. Moreover, in national and national-type high schools, there is a consistent shortage of Chinese subject teachers. The major cause is due to the questionable statistics for teacher needs provided by the MOE as it does not tally with the actual needs collected through survey by vernacular Chinese primary schools individually across the country. Worse still, there were cases where many teacher training academy graduates waited in vain for posting to vernacular Chinese primary schools and they were forced to switch to other line eventually, resulting in ‘teacher-drain’.

From the statistics, it is understood that the number of recruitments and intakes alike should far exceed the number of retirements comes of age and earlier retirements. We opine, the MOE needs to rectify the wrongly labelled construct ‘Subject Teaching’ so that precise data and time progress can be used to predict the actual needs and supply of teachers for all subjects, including school principals and deputy principals; it is to further moderate the disparity of teacher shortage in bid to tackle the issue effectively.

Therefore, this special recruitment project initiated by the MOE is indeed a rare opportunity for the younger generation to devote as teachers. Dong Zong, in view of this, urges either education-major or non-education-major graduates, including graduating undergraduates in their last semester to apply actively. They are recommended to closely read and understand the recruitment details and application procedures posted on the official website of the Education Service Commission (https://www.spp.gov.my/hebahan.html) to avoid unsuccessful application and disappointment. Besides, interested applicants are also cautioned to pay special attention to the number of subject teachers wanted and posting location.

Subject Teacher in Need and Posting Location in the Special Teacher Recruitment for Primary and Secondary Schools: