KUALA LUMPUR – The Selangor Education Department is still conducting an internal investigation into the incident on April 30 in which a Year 5 pupil was punished and forced to stand in the hot sun for three hours.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the department’s probe is in accordance with the standard operating procedures set by her ministry.
She added that the police are conducting an investigation into the April 30 incident and would leave it to the authorities for further action.
“The ministry has submitted the matter to the authorities and the investigation was carried out by the police, as there is already a police report and we leave it to them to take further action,” she was quoted as saying by Bernama at an event in Bertam, Penang.
Earlier, Gerakan Guaman Rakyat urged the Hulu Langat district education office to be firm and take immediate action against the school and teachers who were involved in dishing out the punishment.
Previously, Scoop reported that lawyer Dinesh Muthal, who is representing the pupil’s family, said despite Fadhlina’s promise, no one from the ministry has come to check on the welfare of the pupil, who has been diagnosed with a disability as a result of the punishment.
He said the ministry had not been in touch with the family since the incident on April 30, when the boy was punished after classmates threw water bottles at each other, one of which hit him.
He and two other pupils were punished by being forced to stand in the sun, but while the other two were eventually called in, the boy was made to stand outside from 10am to about 12.50pm.
On May 31, Fadhlina said the ministry was committed to ensuring the welfare of the Year 5 pupil, and that it would not compromise on teachers who abuse their powers or have disciplinary issues.
Prior to her statement, Ampang Jaya district police chief Mohd Azam Ismail said the investigation paper on the incident, which was opened under the Child Act 2001, had been referred to the deputy public prosecutor’s office.
The student has not been to school since April 30 while the school sent three warning letters over absenteeism, each dated May 23, to the boy’s mother via WhatsApp on the same day.
Following checks, an Ampang Hospital doctor signed a letter allowing the student to obtain a person with disabilities identification card from the Social Welfare Department on June 7. – June 9, 2024