Gerakan has urged the Education Ministry to investigate the culture of giving gifts to teachers on Teacher's Day as it tantamount to a form of corruption.

Federal Territory Gerakan assistant secretary KK Supramaniam said the ministry must come up with a code of ethics for teaher.

He was referring to a letter written by Business Ethics Institute of Malaysia chairperson Dr Zainal Abidin Abdul Majid to The Sun newspaper on Friday.

Zainal said that Teacher's Day gifts should be banned because it induces unnecessary competition between students and promotes the culture of corruption and favouritism among teachers.

"Giving gifts can tantamount to an act of corruption. It has become obvious that the gifts range from a stalk of flower to cakes and branded French perfumes," he wrote.

He also cited examples where a parent who owned a printing business printed personalised Teacher's Day cards complete with branded fountain pens.

"There are also teachers who directly or indirectly request or book their preferred gifts from the students.

"One teacher in a Taman Tun Dr Ismail school announced to the class that there are gift items on sale in the school hall for students who wish to buy them for teachers," he said.

Poor students affected

Zainal explained this affects poor students and parents who cannot afford anything more than what other parents are providing.

Supramaniam opined that the Education Ministry should honour the teachers on Teacher's Day by awarding them with certificates of good performance or anything that could encourage to create better teachers.

He added that several ill-effects might result from such an unhealthy culture including the possibility of starting young children on the corruption path and creating unnecessary burden on parents.

"Giving gifts to teachers creates favouritism towards richer students. 'Little gifts' given to teachers will encourage students to give 'bigger gifts' when they grow up," he said.

He stressed that these unethical practices must stop and the Education Ministry should do whatever it can to curb such habits in schools.