PARIT BUNTAR – The Education Ministry will ensure no more cases of bullying at schools are swept under the carpet, said minister Fadhlina Sidek.
Fadhlina said the ministry was giving full attention to this matter by enhancing guidelines for handling bullying incidents at ministry institutions, in collaboration with all agencies, including police and school stakeholders.
“We also provide ample space to improve the capabilities and roles of counselling teachers and counsellors in schools. It is important to note that after we highlighted the need to take firm action on this issue, we received more complaints.
“This indicates that they are willing to speak up and share information with us. Therefore, we don’t want any more cases to be swept under the carpet when we can actually deal with them.”
She told reporters this after launching the 2024 Anti-Bullying Programme for the Kerian district at SMJK Krian here today.
Fadhlina further said that the Public Complaints Management System had been given the space to ensure that all complaints related to bullying incidents would be handled with transparency and integrity, based on the approach adopted by the ministry.
She also said that the Anti-Bullying Programme in schools needed to be expanded with the support of state education departments and believed that bullying incidents in schools could be more effectively addressed through education.
Commenting on the bullying case involving a female student at a secondary school in the Kerian district, Fadhlina said investigations and actions were being carried out by the school authorities based on ministry guidelines.
Prior to this, a one-minute and 21-second video went viral on social media, showing a 13-year-old female student being bullied by two 15-year-old female students from the same school.
According to Perak police chief Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri, the June 14 incident was due to jealousy as the victim was accused of having a close relationship with the older girl’s boyfriend. – July 1, 2024