‘Teachers and politics’

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The Cuepacs in Sarawak has expressed its apprehension about school-teachers being possibly misused by certain political parties for their own benefit. — Bernama photo

LAST month the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, announced that all school-teachers and staff members of the Community Development Department (Kemas) would be allowed to get themselves involved in partisan politics.

Without further clarification, this move could be interpreted as a blanket approval for all categories of teachers — like giving someone a blank cheque.

A couple of organisations in the country have made their respective stance clear with regards to this policy. The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) in Sarawak has expressed its apprehension about school-teachers being possibly misused by certain political parties for their own benefit.

Helpless to do anything direct about government policy, the congress would like to see the parameters within which the teacher may pursue his or her vocation while performing a political role very clearly defined.

The necessity for the teachers’ guidelines has been echoed by another organisation. Assistant Professor, Dr Mohd Hanafi Mohd Yasin, director of the Centre of Community Education and Wellbeing of the Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, stressed the importance of guidelines in order to avoid ‘unhealthy situations’ in our schools.

This policy – if it’s indeed a policy at the moment, not just a politician’s bright idea – if not very carefully implemented, will be problematic at the school level.

Imagine a situation where a religious teacher has been placed in a school. His or her job is to teach religion – what else? How does the school board of management prevent such a teacher from propagating heavily political versions of religion and race in the class room, and the staff room?

Where you have both politically motivated teachers and the educators who are apolitical co-existing in the same school, you expect discussions about the pros and cons of political ideology or policy, e.g. gender inequality, equal pay for equal work, etc. Such a debate can easily spin out of control, and there is no one, except the headmaster or the principal, to calm things down.

But if all these head teachers are also politically inclined to one or another political ideology, who’ll referee the slanging match? And what happens to our children’s education while their elders and betters are trading insults?

You and I should have a say in this matter. Teachers are paid out of the taxpayers’ funds. What might be acceptable in Kelantan wouldn’t go down very well amongst Sarawakians whose take on the role of religion and race in politics is different.

What about teachers who are neutral in party politics? Will they be sidelined in terms of promotion for not toeing the party line espoused by the headmaster or the principal who happens to double as a political activist?

Politicians are a kind of public property. Teachers indulging in partisan politics are bound to be criticised by their political opponents as well as by members of the public. Their performance as educators may be open to scrutiny.

If teachers are so exposed, the name of the school may be adversely affected.

Like politicians in power, they may offer and take bribes, thinking that they will be protected by the big boss – the party in power.

These are possible problems that need to be addressed fast.

Significantly, at the time of writing, there had not been any comment from the Sarawak government on this federal government’s decision.

I think Sarawakians in general, and civil servants in particular, would like to know if the officers in the state civil service are as free and open as their federal counterparts in terms of indulging in party politics in the state?

The involvement of government servants in politics is not new in Malaysia. In the General Orders (GO), which govern the conduct of civil servants (both federal and state), there are the dos and the don’ts for all categories of government officers.

However, under the GO (federal), a senior officer could be granted permission to participate in party politics. I knew of officers from the Malayan civil service (one ‘pengarah’, or director, of a government department, and the permanent secretary of a ministry) who were official delegates at an Umno General Assembly in the 1980s. Obviously, each had given himself a written permission to participate in political activities openly. And in 2009, Kemas officials stationed in a district in Sarawak had organised a cooking competition on the polling day of a by-election; it was for people in a longhouse, obviously to prevent voters from that longhouse known to be sympathetic to the Opposition candidate from casting their ballots for him!

By the time the competition was completed and the prizes given away, it was 5pm and the polling station had closed!

That’s one example of how Kemas staff playing politics at the grassroots level.

Importance of being neutral

If the teacher tells his students that grabbing power by ‘hook or by crook’ against an elected government is justifiable, then we are producing a very inferior bunch of school boys and girls.

Do we want teachers to coach students on how to manipulate voters and issue threats of victimisation if the voters refuse to do comply with instructions?

Should teachers influence the members of the parent-teacher associations (PTAs)? This will eventually influence the attitude of their children – the sapling. Indeed, the tree will grow if the sapling is so bent.

As far as I’m concerned, think carefully about this policy, as it stands. I hope more people will discuss the matter – in Parliament, in the market place. I have not read about reactions from the usual vociferous quarters in Sarawak.

What happens? Perhaps, more explanation is needed from the advocates of the school-teachers in politics — or can we take it that silence means consent.

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