The recent tragedies that have occurred in Malaysian schools are not isolated incidents, but are related in one way or another to the state of mental health among students in our educational institutions.
Earlier this year, a mental health screening showed that many Malaysian students exhibit signs of depression, stress, and anxiety.
Unfortunately mental health remains a topic many students find hard to talk about. Most fear being stigmatised for seeking help or being ostracised for having certain mental conditions.
For every tragedy that makes headlines, there are thousands of students who silently carry emotional scars.
Some were close friends of the victims of these tragedies; others may have survived similar events that the victims have gone through. The pressure cooker environment of modern education exacerbates this silent suffering.
Students today navigate intense academic competition, compounded by the constant social and image-based pressures of digital platforms.
For many, school is not just a learning ground, but a site of profound stress, often stemming from family expectations, bullying, or even violence witnessed online or in their communities.
This continuous exposure to high-stress factors creates a state of chronic vigilance, exhausting their capacity for emotional regulation.
Crucially, many students lack the fundamental emotional literacy required to articulate their distress.
They know they feel bad, but they do not have the vocabulary or the cultural permission to identify their feelings as anxiety, depression, or trauma.
This failure to communicate turns inward, manifesting as aggression, withdrawal, or self-harm, which is ultimately what leads to crises.
Breaking the stigma requires more than campaigns; it demands embedding emotional vocabulary and self-awareness into the daily school curriculum, treating feelings as data points, not failures.
In the aftermath of the SMK Bandar Utama stabbing, students reportedly struggled to resume classes. Teachers observed an increase in absenteeism and signs of distress amongst students.
Many have reported having trouble in concentrating, mood swings, and even sudden tears. Such responses are common in the wake of trauma.
Teachers aren’t immune; many take on the role of a counsellor, mediator, or even emotional anchor while dealing with their own shock and guilt.
Without professional training and support, many educators experience emotional burnout, which becomes another silent epidemic.
If the goal is to rebuild trust and safety in schools, responses must go beyond temporary grief counselling or disciplinary action. Mental health care must be continuous, accessible, and, more importantly, normalised.
As mentioned before, the Education Ministry (MoE) has announced five immediate reforms focusing on mental health, reproductive and social health education, child protection policy, teacher care, and student voice.
Trauma-informed education should be at the core of this change. Teachers are often the first to notice when something is wrong, yet many lack the proper training to identify trauma or emotional distress.
Combined with the lack of knowledge on how to properly approach someone who may be emotionally volatile, this can lead to cases where a student’s mental condition is worsened.
Workshops and professional development programmes must equip our teachers with the proper knowledge and training to recognise symptoms of mental illness and respond with a more understanding and less punishing approach.
Furthermore, the existing ratio of certified school counsellors to students is critically insufficient, often failing to meet recommended national standards.
Counsellors are frequently overburdened with administrative tasks, leaving minimal time for actual therapeutic intervention or crisis management.
To truly adopt a trauma-informed system, the MoE must allocate significant resources to drastically increase the number of full-time, dedicated counsellors and ensure they are trained specifically in crisis intervention and post-traumatic recovery, making them truly available to support both students and teachers.
Another equally important aspect is the creation of safe reporting systems.
Students need to know that if they witness violence or feel unsafe, they can speak up without fear of retaliation.
Anonymous reporting channels, peer-support networks, and visible accountability measures would help restore a sense of trust in school environments.
A school-wide ecosystem of care plays a crucial role during all this.
Counsellors, teachers, administrators, and mental health professionals must collaborate as a support network. This ensures that when tragedy strikes, no one is left to process trauma alone.
Parents play a vital role. Open conversations at home about stress, relationships, and boundaries can encourage children to speak up about their issues before they escalate.
Society needs to put mental health on the same level of importance as academics instead of having it be secondary.
Our school system’s next move should not just be about preventing the next tragedy; it should also be to rebuild the culture of care and empathy in our schools.
Policies will not be sufficient without cultural change and humanity.
Mental health development should be accorded the same importance as academic achievement.
Schools should normalise conversations around stress, emotions, and relationships through open campaigns.
When students can safely say, “I’m not okay,” it becomes the first step toward healing.
The MoE’s inclusion of “student voice” among its five reform pillars is especially meaningful. It recognises that students themselves understand what makes them feel safe or vulnerable. By involving them in safety policies, awareness programmes, and peer initiatives, schools can rebuild mutual trust and accountability.
Teachers must be supported as well. As previously stated, many act as informal counsellors, often absorbing students’ emotional burdens while suppressing their own.
Teacher-wellness programmes, mental-health days, and inter-teacher support groups should be standard practice. An emotionally burnt-out teacher cannot nurture emotionally healthy students.
Beyond today’s reforms lies the challenge of preparing for tomorrow. The MoE’s upcoming 2027 School Curriculum aims to integrate “Character Education” as a foundation from preschool onwards — a move designed to imbue empathy, resilience, and emotional intelligence directly into the learning process.
Experts suggest expanding this by including digital-wellness education, helping students manage the mental pressures of social media, and emotional resilience training. The main goal of this is to teach them ways to cope with failure and uncertainty in healthy ways.
Another step forward is leveraging data and technology to identify early warning signs of distress. Regular mental-health screenings, attendance tracking, and feedback surveys can provide schools with insight into the emotional state of their students.
Combined with proper data privacy measures, this can enable early emotional interventions before a crisis occurs.
However, progress depends on equitable access. Rural and underfunded schools often lack counsellors or safe spaces entirely due to budget constraints.
The MoE’s collaboration with the Health Ministry and strategic partners must ensure that support reaches every student, not just in urban centres. No one must be left behind.
Lastly, community partnerships can bridge the gap between school and the real world. Collaborations with NGOs, mental health advocates, and youth organisations can create continuity of care beyond graduation.
Healing and growth do not end at the school gate. The goal ahead isn’t just to prevent tragedies that may occur; it’s to transform Malaysia’s schools into sanctuaries of safety for learning and emotional growth.
Policies may guide the process, but true change lies in how we treat one another every day with patience, understanding, and care.
A student who feels unsafe cannot truly learn, and a teacher who feels unsupported cannot fully teach. Put both together, and it becomes a recipe for disaster.
However, by enforcing strong policies coupled with genuine compassion, schools can once again become places where both minds and hearts are protected.
In the end, the measure of a school’s success isn’t only in grades or rankings, but in how well it protects and nurtures the minds that walk its halls.
TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE
Chairman
Alliance For A Safe Community
*The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
