NUTP denies supporting new student protection policy

The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) claims that the education ministry has misinterpreted its attendance at an engagement session in June as a sign that it agreed to the implementation of the new student protection policy.

Its president Aminuddin Awang said the union’s representatives attended the event to object to the directive requiring teachers to sign an undertaking form, but the ministry had used photographs from the session to create the impression that NUTP supported the policy.

He said the presentation by the ministry’s daily school management division on June 22 actually covered briefings on various key initiatives concerning students’ learning, safety and welfare, rather than being a special session solely to detail the policy.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that we agree. Sometimes, we attend so that we can object. Yes, we attended, but we did not agree to the undertaking.

“During the session, we had already said we did not agree if there was going to be an undertaking, but they went ahead with it anyway,” he told FMT.

He was commenting on education minister Fadhlina Sidek’s Facebook post yesterday, in which she assured that the policy was not intended to place the entire burden of student safety solely on teachers or make them “scapegoats”.

A photograph was also included to emphasise that the ministry had engaged with various stakeholders, including NUTP, from the outset.

Previously, Fadhlina said the ministry would hold a special session with stakeholders to provide further details on the student protection policy, amid concerns over the potential implications for teachers following a July 1 circular requiring them to sign an undertaking form confirming their compliance with the policy.

Aminuddin said the union had requested a follow-up meeting with the ministry to seek further clarification after the circular was issued, but the ministry repeatedly postponed the meeting.

He said the union had chosen to prioritise direct negotiations with the ministry before deciding on further action.