near misses- the case of a fingernail.

 

It happened and will still happen.

The case of the Sanglang BI teacher leaving a trail of nail on the cheek of her  pupil’s face caught my attention . The tv ,radio,forum ,media were all up and kicking the case of the 50 something  teacher and her year one pupil.

I do not want to speculate but this similar incident was still fresh in my mind though it happened 2 years back while I was still in  office.

The parents of one of my pupils was furious when the son returned home with a bruise on the forehead.The father gave one ultimatum – the head of the school come out with an explanation or the case would be brought to the media and the police. And the head of the school was ME!

Acting fast I did.

The state dept was like telling me-you puan head of this school go dig ,go beg . Its you and only you could help  your poor teacher out of this rut.Well,the father had reported the incident to the JPN.

It so happened that the boy received the bruise at the hand of one of the teachers .The teacher was called as well as the pupils of the class. And the clear picture was gotten.

Together with the teacher we went to the boy’s home .The boy and the mother were not at home . Meeting the father was like being interrogated by the SB.

At last he said everything will be left at the hand of the mother!

Back to the school we went. My teacher was all ready to burst into tears.I could tell she was worried the case could be blown out of proportion.

Later that day I made a pleading call to the mother.And at the end of the line she said all she wanted was a letter to her husband and if they were satisfied the case would be dropped and the teacher be forgiven.

It took me hours to come out  with a letter addressed to the parents via the state department . The teacher herself had to tender her letter of apology. I had to correct her until I was satisfied.IT wasnt easy.

Luckily the family was satisfied with my explanation and the teacher and the school were spared the misery of being in the limelight for the wrong reason.

Phew.

the head of school is like a bus driver. The safety of the school much depended on her. Betul tak?

pic. courtsey of abang google.