The Education Ministry Has Failed Students

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Were anti-bullying policies put in place at the National Defence University (UPNM) after Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain’s murder in 2017? Were these ever enforced at the military university?
Bullying in our schools, right up to the university level, has been happening for decades. Cases of bullying have also risen. There were about 14,000 bullying cases in schools between 2012 and 2015, according to the education ministry.
In 2023, up until October, there were more than 4,500 cases of bullying. Then deputy education minister Lim Hui Ying said her ministry had received 4,994 reports of bullying, an increase from the 3,887 in 2022.
Do bullies who progress to university feel empowered to find more victims because the culture of bullying is not being properly addressed in schools?
These bullies were never taught in school, either by their parents or their teachers, that bullying is wrong.
If they were neither challenged nor investigated and subsequently punished if found to be in the wrong, then it is highly likely that they will pursue more victims at university.
On many occasions, students have been the bullies, but sometimes bullying is done by teachers.
The son of a friend, who was studying at a boarding school in Langkawi, had claimed that a teacher had been seen smoking in a school stairwell. Smoking is prohibited in school.
The two boys who found the teacher smoking were punched by him and warned not to report the matter to the headmaster. One student who did was again punched repeatedly for lodging the complaint.
We only hear about the high-profile bullying cases because they come into the public domain; but what happens to other cases of bullying that go unreported?
For those that were investigated, what sort of punishment did the bully receive? What sort of assurance did the victims and their parents receive from the establishment that showed appropriate action had been taken?
Was the bully suspended for a few days? Was he expelled?
Each time a case is reported, the ministry will inform us that there are guidelines for tackling the bullying, but what are these guidelines? Are they adequate?
“All of these cases have been investigated, and follow-up action has been taken, especially counselling. Both perpetrators and victims will be given proper guidance and counselling,” Lim had said last year.
For this, education minister Fadhlina Sidek is to be held responsible.
She is clueless in handling cases of sexual harassment; would she be any better at handling cases of bullying?
On Aug 10, Fadhlina was asked to comment about the alleged rape and sexual assault of a female student by three male students in Besut last February.
She said her ministry would not compromise on issues involving sexual offences, and that it was handling the matter by strengthening sexual misconduct management guidelines for educational institutions.
We have yet to know what these guidelines entail.
Fadhlina also warned that should her ministry find sexual misconduct occurring within its ranks, the offenders would face action and be sacked from their jobs. This was part of her “you touch, you go” disciplinary statement.
What good is “you touch, you go” when sexual harassment is a crime?
Expulsion or a sacking is not a deterrent. She is only transferring the problem elsewhere. - FMT
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT..

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