Puzzled

Praise be to Allah... at last I have completed the mega puzzle after two whole weeks of tweaking, chopping and pasting. This is the task which nobody wants because it involves so many people and possibly changes so many lives. However, it is important that somebody has to do it, and that unlucky somebody is me.

There were so many things to be considered, so giving everybody equal portion of the schedule is a major headache. Everybody wants to return home early; everybody wants as minimal teaching hours as they can; everybody wants to teach their favourite subjects; and the list goes on and on. 

I was told to make as few contact as possible so that nobody influence me in making my decision. I was lucky that in this school nobody tried to bribe me, so I could go about doing my task without any worry. I have done this task twice already this year, but none would be like this particular time. I was very emotional this time because a piece of the puzzle had died during its completion.

The late Mr. Mahmud Omar was a very dedicated teacher as far as I know. I knew him when the school decided to become a one-session school. He was teaching in the evening session then, and I did not see much of him until we shared the same staff room. He was already quite unwell, and he was frequenting the hospital for hemodialysis treatments. 

He never causes trouble, and I am really troubled by students who were really rude in labeling him as 'a walking zombie'. If I can, I want to get a hold of these students and ask them to apologize, which they could not possibly do because the person they are apologizing to is already gone. 

May Allah bless him.  

You can clearly see the scratch mark

Student's Revenge?

Several of the teachers' cars were scratched yesterday by a dissatisfied student. It seemed that this damage was an act of revenge either towards the discipline teacher, or towards the Penolong Kanan HEM, who both did a great job of keeping the disciplinary problems in the school at bay. Unfortunately, other teachers' cars were the victims as the perpetrator rolled his way along the parking lot. Among the cars involved were Produa MyVi, Proton Waja, Proton Satria and Toyota Vios. The culprit, who is still to be caught, might be feeling unhappy with the punishment he got for the crime he committed earlier. It was a selfish act from a disgruntled person which should not be tolerated.

What Happens to Our Children Nowadays?

Our children are not what they are supposed to be anymore. Gangsterism, vandalism, band-worshiping, fighting, etc. are common, even in a rural school in Gua Musang. We just heard about how two female students kicked and punched their teacher in front of the whole class, while one of them took out a phone and took a video. A teacher's job become more demanding each day, apart from the routine teaching and administrative works, he/she has to be a disciplinarian. I doubt that all teachers in teacher's training courses learn martial arts, as it is a very useful tools to handle (or to protect themselves?) these problems. Nor more 'Yes, teacher' type of students, but more of a 'I will sue you for all your money's worth' type of students. Even the support of their parents do not help matters, they just go about their work without getting to know what their children do at school everyday. Some of them do not bother to come when summoned by the principal, and it makes matters worst.

Teachers are Disciplinarian

Are you a discipline teacher? Are you responsible for disciplinary problems in your school? If your answer for the first question is 'No', it is acceptable because you are maybe an IT teacher or a teacher responsible for examinations. However, if your answer for the second question is also a 'No', you are absolutely wrong. Teachers are born to be a disciplinarian. They don''t have to get a title of a 'Discipline Teacher' to correct those students who committed the offenses. They can punish them accordingly or just send them to the discipline teacher, if their offenses are too serious. Either way, those students should not be let off the hook for their crimes, or they will think that there is nothing wrong with it. Among popular sins committed by students (my school included!) are fighting, bullying, skipping classes and the most popular, smoking. Almost everyday students smoke in the toilet, and they do not afraid of getting caught. It is as though smoking is not a crime, as their father and family members smoke at home. School is a non-smoking place, be it for students or teachers alike. Therefore, in order for the teachers to curb smoking among students, they must also not smoke in the school area. This is not the case, however, because we can find that teachers openly smoke, especially at the canteen.