KUALA LUMPUR – The authorities concerned, especially the police and Education Ministry, must explain the delayed action taken in the case involving a teacher allegedly grooming her teenage student, said Datuk Noor Aziah Mohd Awal.
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner said she is not only baffled, but shocked and disgusted by the recent news that broke over the weekend.
“A police report was lodged (by the victim’s family) in December last year. Three months have passed. What is taking the police so long? What kind of evidence do they want?
“The law is there. There’s the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
“Now that the police have attended to this after it gained public attention, they must push for the case to be prosecuted,” she told Scoop.
Noor Aziah, who was Suhakam’s former children’s commissioner from 2019 to 2022, also said the Education Ministry cannot sweep the issue under the rug or even handle the matter internally.
“There is also no use in transferring her or any teacher, who has committed similar misconduct, to another school. They could possibly go on to abuse another child elsewhere.
“The only way is to ensure the teacher is prosecuted in court,” she said, in reference to Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s recent warning of “you touch, you go” to teachers involved in sexual misconduct against their students.
Noor Aziah also urged teachers and educators to lodge reports or complaints of any possible case of misconduct against students so authorities could pursue an investigation into their complaints.
“There are still teachers who are reluctant to lodge reports or complaints of such cases to their higher-ups.
“It’s different for the medical profession where if the doctors see any signs of abuse on a child, they are responsible for reporting it to the authorities right away.
“Sometimes teachers are scared, sometimes they want to keep it to themselves. Perhaps wanting to protect their friends or not wanting to get into trouble.”
Recently, a teacher has been accused of sexually exploiting and grooming her 16-year-old student. This follows screenshots of their conversation that went viral on social media platform X over the weekend.
The user also shared screenshots of conversations purportedly between the teacher and the boy, as well as a video and photos of their secret meeting by the beach.
It was revealed that the boy’s mother had lodged reports with the police and the district education office. The teacher was then transferred to another school.
The Education Ministry did not reveal details of the “action”, and reiterated that it would give full cooperation as authorities investigated the case.
Clear-cut case of sexual misconduct
Meanwhile, Parent Action Group for Education chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said there is nothing else to do but wait for the outcome of the investigation.
“For the longest time, the government has avoided firing teachers. (Which is why) the exit policy was created.
“However, it is ineffective because too many chances are given to teachers who have ethical issues.
“This is a clear-cut case of sexual misconduct. Now that the police are completing the investigation, we await the decision by the public prosecutor to proceed or otherwise.”
National Union of the Teaching Profession secretary-general Faouzi Singon also urged the public to wait for authorities to complete their investigation.
“The investigation is still ongoing. So, we don’t want to comment on the matter.
“However, the issue is related to the teacher’s personality. So (it is unfair) to blame the entire profession.
“There are over 400,000 teachers and it is not fair to blame them all just because one person has caused a problem,” he said. – March 26, 2024