THE Education Ministry has transferred a teacher who allegedly told jokes about rape following a student’s police report.

Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam, 17, filed a police report last month against the teacher of physical education, who allegedly made the jokes in class.

“The MOE has decided to place the teacher at the Selangor Education Department pending investigation. The next step will depend on the outcome of the investigation,” the ministry said in a statement today.

Ain had presented an account of the teacher’s behaviour on TikTok, which went viral and sparked national outrage.

Following her revelations, she was threatened with rape from her schoolmates, who have since apologised to her.

Ain was also trolled on social media, where she was ridiculed and insulted. 

In a particularly disturbing message, she was called  a “hypocrite” and “Satan’s spawn in a headscarf by someone who seemed to be her school principal. The comment was left on a post announcing Ain and her mother Niza Sharifudin’s appearance in a Facebook live session on the topic of speaking up.

The MOE said it was looking into the comment that appeared to have been written by the SMK Puncak Alam principal, who had denied knowledge of the matter and had filed a police report.

“The MOE confirms that a police report has been lodged by the teacher at the Kuala Selangor police station denying she had posted the account and that she suspected that her Facebook accoun t was hacked.”

The comment had incensed Malaysians, including politicians. A movement called “#StandWithAin” gained widespread traction on Twitter as Malaysians rallied behind her. Ain also started the group  #MakeSchoolASaferPlace after her experience with the teacher.

Most recently, Ain received a school warning of expulsion for absenteeism.

In a tweet on May 9, Ain said she received the letter after she did not go to school for three days.

The MOE said a record of attendance was kept on a system that enabled the teachers to keep track of the students and their conducts in school.

It said the system would generate a first warning letter if a student missed school for three consecutive days or 10 non-consecutive days without providing an explanation.

“The warning is to inform the parents, guardians and teachers of the students’ attendance and where they are during the school hours.

“This also allows MOE to intervene if students are left behind in lessons,” the ministry said.

It said the school had last month issued warning letters to six students for skipping school. – May 12, 2021.