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 Stories by HARIATI AZIZAN, JOSEPH LOH, RASHVINJEET S. BEDI and SUMISHA NAIDU
Barely three months after three schoolgirls drowned while on a school camping trip, five students lost their lives in a school sports activity. Are schools and teachers equipped to keep our children safe?
HIS soaked, shivering figure on the banks of Sungai Kampar near SK Kuala Dipang, Perak, was a sorry sight many cannot forget.
According to the state’s administration, Cikgu Sabri* jumped into the river without hesitation after the Kuala Dipang suspension bridge collapsed, throwing around 25 primary school pupils into the raging river. He grabbed as many pupils as he could, and it was said that he alone saved at least five to seven students.
However, there were many other teachers who simply froze with fear that fateful night, says National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng.
“Some of the younger teachers apparently panicked and broke down crying. They just didn’t know what to do. Our report revealed that many of the teachers who were there didn’t have enough knowledge about safety. The young ones – fresh from training at college – supposedly had the knowledge but when they were thrown into a real-life emergency like that, they could not handle the heat.”
Three primary schoolgirls perished in the tragedy. They were attending a 1Malaysia camp organised by the district education department with some 290 other pupils from 64 schools in the area. A total of 25 teachers supervised the camp.
One would have thought the Kuala Dipang tragedy would caution school administrators to be more vigilant with safety in co-curricular programmes, particularly during off-campus activities.
Yet, a mere three months later, another co-curricular mishap took the lives of five students and a teacher.
The victims this time were older, but they could not fight strong currents in choppy waters either.
In training for the state’s annual Dragon Boat Festival, the Chung Ling High School students drowned when their racing vessel, which carried 15 other students and two instructors, capsized after colliding with a barge in the waters off Weld Quay in Penang.
Like in the Kuala Dipang case, finger pointing ensued, particularly as four of the victims were found without life jackets. Further recrimination was thrown at the organisers when it was revealed that the training venue was dangerous due to its busy traffic and strong undercurrent.
Early investigations also show that the school may not have had the state department’s permission to conduct the training in open waters in the first place.
It is sad that after the horrible tragedy in Kuala Dipang last year, schools are still careless during co-curricular activities, laments Lok.
“The dragon boat accident shows that organisers, coordinators and teachers are still not aware of the dangers. People are quick to forget about tragedies and go back to their normal lives. There will be another case in future, followed by an uproar and then people will forget again,” she stresses.
“It’s time we take such incidents seriously and ensure every precautionary measure when we hold activities,” adds Lok.
No safety culture
Assoc Prof Datuk Mohamad Ali Hasan, president of the National Parents and Teachers Collaborative Council, believes the two cases highlight the sorely lacking “safety first” culture in everyday life, what more in schools.
“We tend to take things for granted. Safety is a prime factor and everyone has to be kept on their toes,” he opines.
He urges for a thorough investigation of the incidents, and the findings be made public, to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Primary school teacher *S.Kavita shares how her school was affected just after the Kuala Dipang incident.
“We immediately cancelled a camp that was scheduled in the compound of the Sungai Buloh school. Our PTA was concerned about the children’s safety,” she says, adding that there are now five teachers to 10 students instead of one to 10 before. Mohamad Ali reckons that the authorities might even be caught off-guard during the more regular activities such as a football match.
“Do they even carry a first aid kit when they have activities on the school compound? I’m sorry to say this, but I doubt it,” he says.
Safety guidelines for co-curricular activities in school are already in place, assures education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom.
“Safety training and first aid knowledge are included in our teacher training syllabus while a Safe School manual and various directives have been issued to schools,” he adds.
The guidelines cover various safety aspects of outdoor activities including water sports, rock climbing, hill climbing and other extreme sports.
He argues that there are enough precautionary measures to ensure students’ safety at indoor and outdoor activities.
“The problem is most schools do not follow them,” he says.
Lok concurs. The guidelines on safety in school are clear, she says, but most teachers take them lightly. Maybe every now and then, schools need to remind their teachers about the safety guidelines during staff development workshops and school assembly, she proposes.
Citinng sports day as an example, she says many teachers who are assigned to be Guru Keselamatan (teacher in charge of safety) take it to mean that they are in charge of only the First Aid Box.
“What many don’t realise is that they need to think about safety in broader strokes. For instance, before the event, they need to ensure that the field is safe –check if it has any sinking holes, nails or pieces of broken glasses. They also need to inspect the equipment and props at least a day before the event to ensure that they are safe.” She points out that if the teachers involved do not have the necessary knowledge, they should consult experts.
“If you don’t have enough budget or safety equipment, just don’t do it. For instance, if you don’t have enough life jackets, don’t go for any water activities.”
Mohamad Ali suggests that the ministry, school authorities and parents make ad-hoc site visits to check on safety at various sports practices and campsites in future.
A teacher from a high school in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, who has organised many outdoor activities and camps, says schools should be keeping track of all activities at all times.
“But in reality, it’s not that easy. How do you monitor 1,600 kids or more, depending on the size of the school?
“The PPD (district education office) also probably doesn’t supervise what goes on,” she says.
Alimuddin concedes that it is beyond the ministry’s capacity to check each and every school’s co-curricular activity.
“There are about 10,000 schools in Malaysia, so we are not able to monitor all schools. That is why it is important for them to place safety as priority,” he says, adding that the onus is on the school authorities to ensure the guidelines are followed at all times.
For example, if the school wants to conduct an activity in the jungle, they should get a proper guide, suitable equipment and inform all the relevant authorities such as the Police and Forestry Department, says Alimuddin.
For a sea or maritime exercise, they should have more personnel such as the maritime police or Rela members monitoring the activity.
A secondary school principal from Negri Sembilan who only wants to be known as Kim agrees.
“When we go on adventure trips such as to Taman Negara or Genting Highlands theme park, we need to have professionals to look after the students. The rule is for every seven students, we need one guide or supervisor from the relevant authorities or organisations.”
Shortage of trained teachers
Lok highlights that in many schools, young, inexperienced teachers are sent on off-campus trips as the olders teachers have too many commitments.
“There is no problem if the teachers are sent for training. But many just lack experience. A few years ago, one school held a camp in its school compound but still had an accident. A kerosene lamp exploded and a boy was burnt. Investigations later revealed that the teacher bought petrol for the lamp, so when they lit it, the lamp exploded,” she says.
Alimuddin denies that there are school administrations which “bully” young, unmarried teachers to accompany students on off-campus co-curricular programmes. Schools need to select suitable teachers for each activity, he stresses.
“Teachers can choose what co-curricular activities they want to train in and take charge of based on their aptitude and ability. For example, those who are given the responsibility for adventure or sporty activities should be physically fit and energetic,” he says.
Kim says that at his school, new teachers are always paired with the more experienced ones.
The main problem, however, is that some schools are short of teachers and can only assign one person as the teacher advisor for each activity.
Kim feels it will be shame if this issue is not resolved as co-curricular activities are important in the holistic development of students.
There is already a reluctance among parents to allow their children to be active in co-curricular activities, he highlights.
“Many parents emphasise academic achievements and it is already difficult to get students to be active in sports, uniformed bodies and other non-academic pursuits,” he shares, adding that it is unfortunate the accidents happened within a short time of each other.
Alimuddin says the ministry will not reduce any co-curricular activities as games, uniformed bodies as well as indoor activities help develop discipline, teamwork, unity and other good human traits in the young.
* Names have been changed.
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Kiriman pada Monday, January 25 @ 11:08:46 MYT oleh yongzu |
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