School To Prepare Full Report On Teacher’s Offensive Remarks Over Upsi Students’ Deaths - Exco

IPOH, June 11 (Bernama) -- The Perak Education Department has instructed a school to prepare a full report concerning one of its teachers, who allegedly posted offensive remarks on social media about the recent tragic accident which claimed the lives of 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students, on the East-West Highway (JRTB).

State Education, Higher Education, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Khairudin Abu Hanipah said that a full report would be prepared by the principal of the secondary school involved, in accordance with the circulars issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

He said that initial investigations confirmed that the Facebook account responsible for the insensitive post belonged to a teacher at the school.

“As an educator, I deeply regret the actions of this individual, who made inappropriate remarks regarding the tragic incident involving the UPSI students,” he said.

He added that following the viral post, the District Education Office (PPD) immediately contacted the school principal, while the PPD counsellor reached out to the teacher to remove the content.

“A check conducted at 8.10 pm yesterday confirmed that the post had been deleted,” he told Bernama when contacted, today.

Earlier, a Facebook post by an account bearing the name ‘Khalid Yunus’ sparked public outrage, after alleging that the 15 UPSI students who died in the tragic accident had ‘died in disgrace.’ The post further claimed that the victims were not among the faithful, as they had passed away while still owing debt to the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN).

However, the post has since been deleted, and the teacher involved has issued a public apology, claiming to suffer from schizophrenia.

In the early Monday morning incident, 15 UPSI students lost their lives when the bus they were travelling in overturned at KM53 of JRTB, near Tasik Banding, Gerik.

-- BERNAMA