IN THE SPIRIT OF SHARING: Fatimah (third right) helps to weigh the meat before they were distributed to the needy.
KUCHING: Schools cannot bar students who are always absent from taking public examinations.
In saying this yesterday, Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah explained that both primary and secondary schools in the nation did not have a regulation to disallow students who were always absent to sit for an examination.
“Primary and secondary schools are not like institutions of higher learning where a student must attend lectures for at least 70 per cent of the time to be entitled to take an examination.
“As long as we do not have such a regulation, no student should be barred from taking an examination,” she told reporters at the Korban distribution event at Surau Desa Guru in Petra Jaya here.
She was responding to an incident where five boys of a public secondary school here were banned by the school senior assistant from taking the PMR. The students were said to be frequently absent from school and had discipline problems.
On the incident which happened on the second day of PMR, Fatimah said the investigation showed that the senior assistant did not actually ask the five students not to sit for the examination.
According to Fatimah, three of the five students decided to continue the examination after a meeting with the senior assistant while the other two decided not to take the examination and intended to leave the school. However, one of the two boys who decided to leave the school changed his mind at the last minute and decided to sit for the examination.
“So, only one boy did not complete the PMR examination. The incident has reminded us, especially academicians, to be careful of what you say. Children and even members of the public can have a different interpretation.”
The investigation report had been submitted to the Malaysian Examination Board for further action, she said.
Fatimah felt that it was the responsibility of the school or any other school to find out the reason behind absenteeism and rectify it.
She reminded schools and academicians that the objective of education was not merely to produce students with excellent academic results.
“Education is about building on the potential of our children. It should be a holistic approach. If you have students who are always absent from school, you need to find out the reason. Of course, parents have the responsibility as well,” Fatimah said.
Fatimah believed that with strong determination and good leadership skills, a school could turn itself into a favourite place for students.
“Take SK Tabuan for example. The school had very serious disciplinary problems. It was not doing well in terms of academic performance. But with the teamwork involving the headmaster, teachers and even parents, the school has improved.”
About 700 recipients from 11 primary schools and nearby villagers benefited from the Korban distribution at Desa Guru which involved 16 cows.