Set Up Public Ombudsman System To Probe Violence In Schools Group

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With a ministry official admitting cases of violence in school being covered up, an advocacy group stressed the need for Putrajaya to establish a public ombudsman system to investigate such cases.
Tiada Guru said only an independent team of investigators and enforcement, with wide powers, could resolve the problems plaguing the Education Ministry.
“We need independent investigations, independent enforcement, witness and whistleblower protection.
“None of that exists under corruptible Education Ministry internal investigations, and it allows the ministry to stomp on children’s rights with impunity.
“Thus, the only answers are external investigations with external enforcement and broad whistleblower protection, as Tiada Guru and others proposed via a fiercely independent public ombudsman,” it said in a statement today.
Yesterday, Education Ministry director-general Azam Ahmad admitted that many sexual harassment and bullying cases in schools have been “swept under the rug”.
Education DG Azam AhmadNevertheless, he said the incidents must be reported and that it was his responsibility to bring them to light to prevent their recurrence.
“If everything is to be swept under the carpet, it seems like only good things exist... but in reality, something (bad) is happening.
“This is like an atomic bomb just waiting to explode. It is indeed sad, and in the three months I have held office as director-general, I have collected a lot of data on this,” Berita Harian quoted him as saying.
Get MACC involved
Tiada Guru said it was appalled that the Education Ministry is aware of these illegal cover-ups, but has not clarified whether MACC was informed about all the offenders and those protecting them.
The group argued that such cover-ups amount to a form of gratification, violating the MACC Act, which defines it to include any service or favour - including protection from punishment, penalties, or legal or disciplinary action.
Tiada Guru called this ongoing failure “enraging and pathetic” to whistleblowers, citing similar concerns raised by the Sabah police in August 2024 and former education minister Maszlee Malik recently.
The NGO demanded that Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek immediately meet with MACC and present all relevant evidence of the purported criminal cover-ups.
“Fadhlina, as a purported defender of children’s rights, must join with all top ministry leadership to immediately meet MACC to tender all relevant evidence, documents, and records that confirm these criminal cover-ups within her ministry.
“Inaction against known corruption is an endorsement of corruption,” the group emphasised.
On Oct 1, Malaysiakini reported that the Education Ministry did not act until the minister's office stepped in to address financial misconduct involving billions of ringgit and cases of sexual and child abuse.
The testimony was made by Maszlee’s former aide Shaza Scherazade Alauddin Onn, when testifying in Siti Nafirah Siman’s landmark teacher absenteeism suit against the government.
She claimed that despite clear ministry guidelines, regulations and child protection laws requiring teachers to report such incidents to the police, no action was taken by the teachers or the headmaster. - Mkini

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