It was supposed to be a graduation trip to Singapore for a group
of Malaysian primary school students, but now, their teachers and
principal are accused of abandoning them to visit the casino.
According to a Kuala Lumpur-based newspaper report, a student’s
parent had complained about the teachers and principal’s
‘irresponsible behaviour’ during the trip.
The irate mother of the student said she paid more than S$340
for her daughter’s four day school graduation trip to Singapore.
The 140 students were accompanied by 14 teachers and their
principal.
It is believed that a majority of the teachers and principal
allegedly left the hotel at about 11pm to visit the casino on the
first night. However, it was not stated which hotel they stayed in
or the casino they visited.
An angry parent revealed that a teacher was supposed to share a
room with her daughter who had a fever but the teacher could not be
located. Her daughter was left to wait in her own room with her
friend till past 11pm.
The girls were then told by the tour guide that the group of
teachers and principal had visited the casino, and only a few
teachers were in the hotel. The teachers and principal are reported
to have returned to the hotel at 1am.
However, besides visiting the casino, the same group of teachers
and principal are also accused of leaving the kids with the tour
guide and a few other teachers at the Singapore Science Centre to
go shopping.
The same parent told the paper that she was unhappy
with the behaviour of the teachers who were supposed to be in
charge of the students, but acted without a sense of
responsibility.
“During an overseas trip like this, teachers should ensure the
safety of the kids as a top priority and not leave them as and when
they feel like it. Leaving the kids to go to the casino is
atrocious.
“What if something had happened to them? Who will take
responsibility?”
A teacher from the group, who later admitted that they visited
the casino during the trip, apologised to the parent for the
distress caused by their actions and said, “as teachers, we should
not have abandoned our students to go to the casino.”
Some parents Yahoo! Singapore spoke to were shocked to hear
about the incident.
Said events manger Erik Ng, 36, “It was really irresponsible of
the teachers and the principal to do such a thing. I certainly can
relate to how the parent was feeling for her daughter who was
ill.”
Mohd Azhar, 32, who has two kids, agreed. He said, “Action
should be taken against the group for leaving the kids to visit the
casino. I hope our local schools here have strict guidelines for
teachers when it comes to excursions and overseas trips.”
-- Yahoo! News