As much as we used to delight on the rare days teachers didn't enter the classroom when we were in school, we can't imagine a teacher not coming to class for most of the year and not facing the consequences.

But that's what happened in SK Taun Gusi, Kota Belud, Sabah when an English teacher failed to go for classes and teach from March to November 2017.

Three former students - Calvina Angayung, Rusiah Sabhdarin and Nur Natasha Allisya Hamali - are suing the the teacher Mohd Jainal Jamran, headmaster Suid Hanapi along with the director-general of education, the education minister, and the Malaysian government at the High Court here.

When the teacher is the one skipping classes

According to a report on Yahoo News, the students, in a claim sheet, have said that the teacher was supposed to teach their class English twice a week but did not turn up between March and November 2017.

Even before that, he was often late and left early.

“During numerous instances, the plaintiffs had to go to the first defendant at his office to remind and/or request him to attend the English class he was assigned to.

“Save for a few instances where the first defendant would attend class but failed to teach, the first defendant would ignore the plaintiffs’ requests,” the claims reportedly stated.

Not the first time

Jainal seem to be a repeat offender and it's truly astonishing that he got away for so many years.

Another former student, Nafirah Siman, had also sued Jainal and the headmaster of the school about two years ago for not turning up for class for almost seven months in 2015.

The case has been postponed due to MCO.

Lawyers from Messrs Roxana & Co., who represented Nafirah, will also be representing the new case.

According to reports, the three women who decided to sue Jainal were doing so to ensure that other students will not, in future, face the same problems we had all faced at the school.

"When I told people that I was taking my former teacher to court for being absent and failing to fulfill his duty as a teacher, they told me it was better to withdraw the case. They tried to discourage me by saying that pursuing the case would only cause more problems in my life.

"But I don’t think this case is causing me trouble. I am happy to do this and I will not give up. It’s clear that when teachers refuse to teach, a school’s culture quickly degrades: more students fight, more students break the rules, and more students themselves begin to leave classes and even school,” Nur Natasha reportedly said.

We hope stern action will be taken against the defendants so this does not happen again. Good job on fighting for what's right, girls.