Sabah MP warns schools on converting Christian students

It’s an abuse of the trust placed in schools by parents if they take it upon themselves to engage in the business of converting students.

KOTA KINABALU: Penampang MP Darell Leiking warned in a statement on Mon that the conversion of an underage Dusun Christian girl student to Islam by the very school the parents hoped would protect their child, “was an abuse of the trust placed in them”.

The school authorities, he pointed out, were regarded as guardians of the children who could only stay in hostels as their homes were too far away for them to commute daily to school.

“Once in the hostels, the schools bear full responsibility for looking after the children,” he added after meeting with Jilius Yapoo, 46, a rubber tapper who confessed that he cried upon seeing his daughter in a tudung. “The school concerned has not respected the sanctity of the family. They have not arranged a meeting between the parents and the child until today.”

Jilius’ 16-year-old daughter, who stays at the school hostel, was allegedly made to embrace Islam by the school warden without her parents’ knowledge. The father has since lodged a police report on the matter.

The girl’s home was about 15 km away from the school and was only accessible by a gravel road which made travelling times that much longer. Besides, there was no readily available transportation between the home and the school.

The Malay Mail Online reported on Thurs that authorities were investigating the conversion incident.

State Education Department director Jame Alip declined further comment on the grounds that it was now a police matter.

It could not be immediately established whether the girl in the incident had been issued a conversion card registered with the religious department in Sabah and whether her MyKad has been changed.

Lawyers in the know say that if there has been no documentation done on the conversion incident, the girl is not a Muslim, and the parents in the case could proceed to sue the school authorities. They could also register the police report at the Magistrate’s Court and let the Court handle the matter.