Penang Education Dept Regrets Inappropriate Image Incident, Investigation Ongoing

GEORGE TOWN, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- The Penang Education Department (JPN) is conducting an internal investigation into a secondary school teacher, who is alleged to have used an inappropriate image on a competition poster for the National Month celebration.

Its director Datuk Abdul Said Hussain said the department took the matter seriously because it had offended many individuals.

He also apologised for the teacher’s negligence, noting that the use of template photos sourced from the internet as promotional material for the competition was insensitive.

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“Preliminary reports have been received from the school, teachers and the Seberang Perai Tengah district education office (PPD) regarding this matter, and further investigations are ongoing.

“We regret the incident, and sincerely hope that all parties will be patient and allow the PPD and JPN to complete the investigation. Appropriate action will be taken to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future,” he told Bernama today.

Recently, a scrapbook competition poster organised by a secondary school, which allegedly used a Chinese military propaganda photo, went viral on social media and received widespread criticism.

Commenting further, Abdul Said said that the teacher involved apologised on Thursday, and the original poster has been withdrawn and replaced with a revised version.

He explained that the poster was initially shared in the parents’ WhatsApp group on Aug 15 to notify school students about the competition, which was organised by the school for the National Month celebration.

He also emphasised that, while the state education department supports the initiatives of schools, the PPD, Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), and Parent, Community and Private Sector Involvement (PIBKS) in enhancing National Month celebrations through various activities, these activities must receive approval from the department before implementation.

“All activities must be presented at committee or co-curricular meetings, and approved by the department head,” he said.

“This process ensures review, correction, quality assurance, and verification, before activities such as teaching and learning (PdP) and co-curricular competitions are conducted, to avoid mistakes or non-compliance with national curriculum policies and the Curriculum and Assessment Standard Document (DSKP),” he said.

-- BERNAMA