KUALA LUMPUR – Personal safety is now an urgent topic the Education Ministry must include in the school syllabus to curb crime against minors, beginning with child grooming, an educationist said.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) associate professor Hasnah Toran told Scoop that whether the topic is taught as a module or as part of the syllabus, its introduction is overdue as students need to know personal boundaries, which is a part of sexual education.
They also need to know the do’s and don’ts when interacting with adults, and what to do if faced with misconduct by adults, she said.
“Boundaries must be spelt out clearly because sometimes, children do not realise they are being exploited.
“The topic could be introduced to kids as early as kindergarten and later embedded in primary school.
“This is to ensure that the topic is continuously taught, so they are aware when an adult crosses the line,” Hasnah said.
Students will also learn not to fear speaking up and to call out bad behaviour by adults, she added.
Hasnah, who is chair of UKM’s Centre of Community and Wellbeing Education said the ministry must have thorough planning before introducing personal safety in schools so that teachers know how to handle it.
“It must not be burdensome to teachers, because once they perceive it as such, they might shy away from it.
“So, the ministry, perhaps, can look into introducing it as a module or a syllabus, or have a strategy to embed it with the existing syllabus.
“Another approach is to introduce it all at once and see how it turns out.”
Parents, counsellors need awareness too
Hasnah also suggests a special module on personal safety for parents and counsellors. She said this is necessary in creating a supportive environment for children to speak up if they experience grooming attempts or sexual harassment.
“There are cases where adults are dismissive when children try to share what happened to them. Some adults might be dismissive because it involves a topic they’re uncomfortable with.
“Parents and school administrators, including the headmaster, must be aware of such issues and not dismiss students’ complaints, especially if it involves a teacher or staff misbehaving.
“A police report must be lodged and the authorities must be involved,” she added.
Roland Edward, co-founder of anti-human trafficking charity Be My Protector, said society needs to adopt the “anak orang, anak kita” (their child is also my child) mindset.
“I grew up in a kampung and learnt very early on that having a community to help you raise a child is important.”
Edward also supports disclosing the sex offenders registry to the public. Currently, information about persons in the existing registry under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry can only be obtained by application.
“It should be made public. This is so that schools can vet their teachers and staff. Most students spend most of their time in schools and classes and it is important for parents to know that their children are in the hands of good and responsible teachers.
“Anybody who is a convicted sex offender should not go anywhere near children.
“As basic as it is, this concept seems alien in our country. Just because a person is good with kids, does not mean the individual is a good person.
“A paedophile is good with kids too,” Edward said.
The Education Ministry was under the spotlight recently for slow action taken over a female teacher accused of molesting an underage student.
On March 29, it was announced the teacher was placed on leave. However, the student’s mother had lodged a police report in December.
Noting the delayed action, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner Datuk Noor Aziah Mohd Awal demanded an explanation from the police and education ministry.
On April 10, Bukit Aman’s sexual, women and child investigation division principal assistant director Siti Kamsiah Hassan said rape cases involving underage girls had increased, with the majority of them involving grooming by their perpetrators.
Police statistics show 1,299 rape cases involving underage girls were reported in 2021, which increased to 1,388 in 2022 and 1,590 in 2023. – May 14, 2024