The education ministry has announced that it will implement several measures to curb bullying and ensure the safety of students at educational institutions under its purview.
Education director-general Azam Ahmad said this would involve improving SOPs on school safety and for handling disciplinary issues, including bullying.
“The existing SOPs and guidelines will be reviewed to ensure that they are relevant to current and future needs. Safety audits will be carried out immediately at all educational institutions, including boarding schools.
“The audit will focus on compliance with safety SOPs, and its results will be presented to the ministry’s top management in three months,” he said in a statement.
Azam said the ministry would also reform its Aduan Buli portal for complaints of bullying, with the system to be simplified and complainants given the option of remaining anonymous to protect their identity as well as that of witnesses.
The ministry will also establish a safety reform committee to strengthen the safety aspects in schools, involving academics, experts in various fields, NGOs, the police and parents.
“There will be no compromise with bullying. Stern action must be taken including suspending and expelling bullies,” Azam said, adding that intervention programmes for suspended students had been introduced as well.
Azam said teachers as well as education officers at the district or state levels who do not act on bullying complaints will face action.
This follows the widely reported death of Form 1 student Zara Qairina Mahathir, who was found unconscious at 4am on July 16 after allegedly falling from the third floor of her school’s hostel in Papar, Sabah.
She died at Queen Elizabeth I Hospital in Kota Kinabalu the following day.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers later ordered the police to exhume her body so that a post-mortem could be conducted and the investigation into her death completed.
The autopsy was completed last night after eight hours.
Zara’s death also sparked gatherings at several locations across Sabah last Friday, with hundreds calling for justice.
