National Junior College responds to allegations that senior teacher is racist

Responding to online allegations that one of their teachers is racist, National Junior College (NJC) say they do not condone any racist behaviour from students or staff.    

An anonymous post on Instagram account Minority Voices on Monday (June 21) sparked intense discussion online, with many comments either identifying or highlighting their own grievance against the teacher and asking the Ministry of Education (MOE) to investigate.

The post garnered almost 4,000 likes and 200 comments within a day.  

"We are committed to investigating promptly, and we will not hesitate to counsel and discipline those found to be engaging in such acts," NJC's principal Ang Pow Chew told AsiaOne. 

Ang added that the college is aware that said teacher might have been strict with students in her role as discipline mistress then, but they have no evidence suggesting she had "any racial bias or had racially discriminated against students in the course of carrying out her duties in school".

He said: "Past and present students of various races have written to state categorically that the teacher has not shown any racial bias.

"We regret reading about the alumna’s experience," he said, "and would like to reach out to this alumna who posted the message to assist in our investigations."

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In the Instagram post, the anonymous contributor recounted her difficult experience with the accused. This includes being policed about her uniform and attire, preferential treatment to non-Indians and also corroborating similar accounts with other students who were either Singaporean Indians or scholars from India.

AsiaOne reached out to Minority Voices – which has almost 19,000 followers – to contact the anonymous contributor but they declined in a follow-up Instagram post from the same contributor.

Netizens were shocked by her account – some highlighting prejudice in the institution as well as asking educators to be more racially sensitive. 

One suggested gathering more accounts and together highlight their experiences officially to MOE.

In the comments, user Abhishekh Pandey, who said he is an alumnus, defended the accused and said that as an Indian, he did not face "anything remotely close to racism" from the accused.

He said: "While many students did disagree with her methods of discipline, it is unfortunate that this [alumna] has come to the conclusion that it had anything to do with her race."

He added that students in the college were diverse and this diversity was celebrated. "Rather than hiding behind the guise of anonymity, it would have been more appropriate for the student to bring the issue up to the heads of the school," he said.

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This discussion has spilled over to Reddit – more than 200 upvotes and almost 200 comments – with a few users weighing in on the issue. 

Redditor zhatya, who wrote that he was also from NJC and is now a teacher, said that it is not easy applying the same standards of discipline to all students – and that personal biases may creep in.

The individual added: "At the end of the day we all have to work at overcoming our own bias. And as educators we should be held to a higher standard."

On June 17, MOE said that any form of racism is unacceptable and has no place in local educational institutions.

It added that students and staff who experience racism should raise the matter to their institutions immediately and that it be looked into – those who commit such acts will be counselled and disciplined.  

zakaria@asiaone.com