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
what's wrong with going out to do your own stuff at 11 pm when the children are asleep and leaving a skeleton staff to watch over the kids?
just some ramblings of a kiasee parent. I don't see what's the big deal.
Its the words used in the feedback.
Teachers abandon school children to go to the casino.
vs
Too few teachers delegated to look after 140 school children while visiting Singapore.
I guess the problem here is about them going to the casino. If they had, say, gone for supper, then it would have sounded better. That said, the teacher who was supposed to look after the sick kid was extremely irresponsible. She should have at least asked a colleague to take over.