SHAH ALAM, Sept 18 — The High Court has dismissed a RM1 million negligence suit filed by a teenage girl and her father against three teachers, a headmistress, the Education Ministry (MOE) and the government, according to a New Straits Times report.
The 14-year-old filed the suit alongside her father, Wan Amey Shahril Wan Ab Rahman, 39, and were the first and second plaintiffs.
The family is seeking damages after the teenager fractured her left femur in a fall when a classmate pulled away her chair as she was about to sit down. The incident occurred on October 12, 2023, during a special education programme at a national school when she was 11 years old.
The plaintiffs accused the defendants — teachers Ilyana Sari Ridzuan, Suhaida Abdul Rahman and Aizam Naim Mohd Junid and headmistress Hamidah Shamsudin — the MOE and the government of negligence and a breach of duty of care.
Judicial commissioner Datuk Anita Harun in delivering her judgment said: “Teachers have a duty to ensure the safety of students, as provided for under the law. However, this duty does not mean that teachers can guarantee that students will never be injured.”
She said the plaintiffs must have proven that direct negligence by the teacher had caused the injury, and said the plaintiff could not prove that the lack of teachers’ supervision had caused the incident.
Based on the chronology of the events, the medical history placed the time of the incident at about 10am, while the victim’s mother Azera Yazid, 38, estimated that it occurred at 10.40am and that she arrived at the school at about 11.20am.
“The court also accepted evidence that the victim received assistance, had cried, and then (went to) her father on the lower floor of the school building.
“The school’s procedures supported contacting the parents, but did not require that an ambulance be called.
“Considering the assistance provided, the prompt arrival of the victim’s mother, the teachers’ observations and the passage of time, (the school) arranging for the parents to fetch her rather than providing emergency transport was reasonable in the circumstances.
“The child should have remained at rest and received appropriate assistance (instead of going to) her father,” she said.
Anita added that no separate administrative failure could be established and the necessary basis for determining liability failed to be proven on the balance of probabilities.
“The plaintiffs’ action against all the defendants is dismissed,” she said.
During the proceedings, all defendants were represented by senior federal counsel Afiq Nazrin Zaharinan, while both plaintiffs were represented by lawyer Soffian Azmir.
On August 4, 2024, it was reported that the then 12-year-old girl had been suffering for almost a year from complications due to a spinal injury from falling when a classmate pulled away the chair on which she was about to sit.
