The Malaysian Insight

AN Education Ministry programme where teachers visit pupils’ homes leaves the former open to risks, said the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP).

NUTP president Kamarozaman Abd Razak said among the risks are teachers being chased away by angry parents and getting bitten by dogs.

School principals should accompany teachers making visits under the Ziarah Cakna programme, launched in January, he said.

“In one case, a teacher was chased away by the parents with a knife. The teacher was also bitten by dogs.

“At the very least, schools should instruct teachers making such visits to go in pairs,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Kamarozaman recommended that teachers meet parents through the parent-teacher associations, as the Ziarah Cakna programme is not compulsory.

The programme was launched by Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik, who urged teachers to focus more on pupil development.

Ziarah Cakna’s aim is to foster closer ties between parents and schools, as well as allow teachers to better understand their pupils’ backgrounds and challenges faced at home.

Its guidelines state that teachers have to first obtain parents’ permission before making home visits, which must be at the latter’s convenience.

Teachers are also encouraged to share a pupil’s development and progress with his or her parents, while making a note of the family’s socio-economic challenges and needs.

Maszlee has said the ministry is working to reduce teachers’ administrative duties so that they can pay more attention to pupil development, lesson-planning and teaching.

However, a teacher said administrative duties have not been uniformly reduced at all schools.

“The Ziarah Cakna programme is more work if we are to visit the homes of 40 pupils,” he said on condition of anonymity.

“Previously, we would only visit the homes of pupils with disciplinary problems. Now, we have to visit top pupils’ homes, too?”

In addition to the current workload, they would have to deal with angry parents who might not understand the purpose of home visits under the programme, he said.

Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching said the ministry will leave it to schools to address the matter autonomously.

“If a teacher is worried about violent treatment when visiting a pupil’s family, the school can arrange for two teachers to go together. This is for the school (to handle), not the Education Ministry.”

She said it is not right for teachers to visit only the homes of pupils with disciplinary issues.

“If you only visit the home of a pupil with disciplinary problems, other pupils will know about it. We want to get rid of this stigma. I don’t think pupils should be labelled in this way.

“(What we want is for) teachers to know pupils’ families and communicate with the parents.”

On complaints that the programme adds to teachers’ work hours, she said the issue should be resolved between teachers and their schools.

Other than the time spent in the classroom, there is no clear limit set for teachers’ work hours.

“Of course, civil servants’ work hours are set at eight, plus one hour of rest, as long as the overall working time does not add up to more than half of their work hours,” said Teo.

“I think this needs to be sorted out by teachers and schools themselves.

“Only the school knows exactly how much time teachers spend in meetings and on extracurricular activities outside of class hours.

“If we want to strictly enforce it, we should have a guide that sets out teachers’ work hours.” – June 3, 2019.