THE day a teacher was locked in Zhangde Primary School, an
attendant was on duty to make sure no one was left behind. However,
Ms Siew Moi told the High Court that she does not check the
classrooms before locking up. Speaking in Mandarin, she said: 'The
school is very big. It would take too long.'
Teacher Sivakami Sivanantham, 39, who was trapped in the
building on Feb 11, 2006, fractured her ankle trying to climb out
of it, is now suing the Ministry of Education (MOE) for negligence
for 'not ensuring a safe work environment'.
Madam Siew said she had checked the teachers' staff room.
Finding it vacant, she locked it and pulled down its shutters at
12.45pm. She then locked up the general office and the shutters of
the stairs nearest it. Those were the only ones that were open on
Saturdays, she said.
Principal Jaswant Kaur had told the High Court on Tuesday that
school attendants are required to check the classrooms before
locking up.
On Thursday, operations manager Choo Kwok Seng took the stand to
say that the school would be locked at 12.30pm on Saturdays unless
he was told that a teacher would be working late.
Cross-examined by Ms Sivakami's lawyer Kamala Dewi, Madam Siew
said that she does not inform Mr Choo before she locks up the
school.
In her testimony on Monday, Ms Sivakami said that she arrived at
the school at 9am on that fateful day. She left her handbag and
mobile phone in the teachers' room on the second floor to go to her
classroom. At about 1pm, she found herself locked out of the staff
room. The roller shutters to the ground floor exit was also locked.
In her desperation, she climbed through the ventilation gap to get
out and fell some 4m and fractured her ankle. Complications
necessitated seven operations and she was on medical leave for more
than a year.
The hearing has ended and both parties are to tender their
submissions to Justice Belinda Ang by Dec 31.
-- ST
