A Malaysian teacher has spoken out after being accused of causing a student to skip school – a claim he strongly denies and says has left him emotionally burdened.
According to mStar, the teacher shared his experience on social media, expressing frustration after being repeatedly blamed by the student’s father for the child’s reluctance to go to school.
Lodged complaints accusing him of being strict
According to the teacher, the parent had allegedly lodged several complaints with the school’s management, accusing him of being too strict and frightening the student.
He said the situation escalated when the school’s senior assistant for student affairs contacted him early one morning to ask whether he had a Mathematics class scheduled that day.
The call came after a student was reportedly crying at the school gate, refusing to enter the compound and claiming he was afraid of the teacher.
The father even questioned what I had done until his child was so scared of me,” the teacher wrote.
Insisted complaints were unfair
However, the teacher insisted that he was being unfairly made a scapegoat. He explained that similar complaints had already surfaced the previous year, but checks suggested the student may have fabricated the story to avoid attending school.
He added that last year, the pupil was in a remedial class and did not attend his Mathematics lessons at all.
As for Physical Education classes, the teacher said he rarely scolded students during those sessions as they were usually focused on fun and physical activities.
Student had a poor attendance record
The teacher also revealed that the student had a poor attendance record. Since the start of this year’s school session, the child had reportedly missed school multiple times, including on days when the teacher did not teach any of his classes.
In the first week, there were no lessons. In the second week and the following week, there were three Mathematics classes, and he didn’t come for any of them,” he said.
The student was also absent on Jan 27, only for the incident at the school gate to occur the next day.
“When I checked the days I didn’t have class with him, he still didn’t come. He’s already in Year 5 now,” the teacher wrote, adding that he was tempted to review the student’s attendance records going back to Year 1, before he had ever taught the child.
Ongoing accusations have taken a toll on him
The ongoing accusations have taken a toll on him, especially as he was required to meet school administrators to explain what he described as baseless claims.
I don’t mind if parents of students I actually scold complain that I’m strict. I am firm when students don’t do their work or don’t pay attention. But in this case, the student wasn’t even there.”
His post drew widespread attention online, with many netizens expressing sympathy and urging parents not to jump to conclusions or place blame on teachers without fully understanding the situation.
Several commenters also highlighted the importance of addressing attendance issues honestly rather than deflecting responsibility onto educators.
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