Alleged conversion: Teachers transferred out of Sarawak

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MIRI: SUPP secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting said he was glad that the Ministry of Education has transferred two teachers from SMK Lutong out of Sarawak for allegedly converting a student to Islam.

He said the controversy should have been prevented from the onset although he was happy that the teachers concerned were not transferred to other schools in Sarawak.

“It should never have happened in the first place as it involves minors where parents’ consent is a must.”

Ting said all students were minors and protected under the law, and school principals were duty-bound to uphold their interest and rights as spelt out under the Child Protection Act.

“Secondary school students are all under 18 years old and they cannot make the unilateral decision to convert without permission from their parents while the principal plays the role of gatekeeper,” he said.

Ting said a principal must be the first person to be informed in such a case so that actions could be taken accordingly.

He also called on the Ministry of Education to send out directives to teachers that all school principals must be informed beforehand of any intended conversion and warned that it was a very sensitive issue in Sarawak with a population which is predominantly Christian.

Ting, also SUPP Piasau branch chairman, said he was immediately involved in the thick of things when told of the controversial conversion last Thursday, and called up the state education director who immediately acted on the case.

He was with the family of the 13 year-old girl from 11am to 1pm that day to get a clearer picture of the incident after the Christian community was in an uproar over the conversion of the girl following a police report lodged by the latter.

Ting said teachers’ role in school was to teach and not to convert students.

Expressing his concern particularly when money was involved in conversion attempts, he said such incidents should be nipped in the bud especially in rural areas.

Last Friday, Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah called for a meeting of all the parties involved in the conversion saga, including the student, her parents, grandfather, teachers and principal.

In the meeting to clear the air, it was revealed that there was no actual conversion and the girl has informed Fatimah that it was she who initiated the move to convert to a Muslim teacher who later referred her to the religious teacher.

The meeting also dismissed the misconception that the girl was duped into converting but Fatimah conceded that it was wrong under the law as the latter was a minor and consent from her parents was not given.