PETALING JAYA: Civil servants are bound by rules and regulations as stipulated in the Civil Servants (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993, and are not allowed to openly issue public statements against any ministry or government agency.
Nonetheless, there are channels and mechanisms in place for them to voice their complaints and dissatisfaction on matters of concern to them.
In a recent incident, Fadli Salleh, a school teacher, said he was being investigated for pointing out weaknesses in the education system.
He alleged he could be demoted, or lose his job, due to his posts and comments on social media, where he wrote about weaknesses in the education system without naming any individual or department responsible for it.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Community Education and Well-being Research Centre senior lecturer Dr Anuar Ahmad said what Fadli shared had been discussed before he posted the comments.
“Fadli is a teacher and he is also a parent, his children attend government schools just like many of us, does that not give him the right to question the system his own children is in,” he asked.
Anuar added that Fadli’s views reflected the opinions of most parents whose children attend public schools and that the matter was not something new or unknown to the public.
Meanwhile, lawyer Asiah Abd Jalil said: “If you want to speak openly, don’t be a civil servant and in this case, an Education Ministry school teacher. When you are a civil servant, you are subject to many rules such as the Civil Servants (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993. So civil servants must abide by the regulations. There’s no exception,” she said.
However, Asiah at the same time noted that if a person is not a civil servant such as Fadli, he would never be aware of things that occur in schools.
“A person like Fadli is needed. Insiders must dare to speak out,” she said, adding that this would provide some checks and balances, and only then can improvements be made.
“For the benefit of our school children and future generations in this country, Fadli has my support,” she said.
Parent Action Group for Education president Datin Azimah Abdul Rahim said since issues within the Malaysian education system have been reported and discussed numerous times in the media, it is frustrating to see the top administration responsible for the nation’s education system still not realising their shortcomings.
“They have failed to see what they are missing and therefore, any changes or revamps that are done are superficial and do not solve the bigger problems,” she told theSun.
Azimah said she was on the National Education Advisory Council from 2018 to 2020.
“We had more than 100 meetings during my time there and many solutions were suggested, but I think our papers are now on someone’s desk and forgotten.”
She added that with the current situation and claims by teachers that they had to lie about students’ assessments, the country is heading towards a disastrous future.
“The unmasking of such incidents dampens students’ motivation and provides false hope,” Azimah said.
