MELAKA: Melaka is committed to becoming a bullying-free state by launching the Anti-Bullying Movement for Boarding School Students (GAMA) in 38 boarding schools, involving 11,151 students with an approach based on awareness, early prevention and continuous monitoring.
State Education, Higher Education and Religious Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Rahmad Mariman said the initiative also involved the appointment of 38 officers from the State Education Department and the Melaka Islamic Religious Department as foster parents to monitor and ensure the safety of students in the dormitories.
“This effort also received the cooperation of the police and the schools involved as the main driving forces, indirectly reflecting the state government’s determination to comprehensively combat bullying.
“GAMA serves as a platform for awareness, early prevention and continuous monitoring, thus ensuring that the dormitory becomes a safe and conducive place to build the character of students,” he told reporters here last night.
Earlier, he officiated the launch of the programme at Sekolah Menengah Sains Muzaffar Syah, which was also attended by Melaka police chief Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar and Melaka NRD director Mahfudzah Mohamed Nor.
Explaining further, Rahmad said that based on the records of the Education Ministry, a total of 7,681 cases of bullying were recorded nationwide in 2024, involving 1,992 cases in primary schools and 5,689 cases in secondary schools.
He said, however, in Melaka, the bullying cases recorded in the same year were 0.12 per cent of the total students, covering various forms including physical, verbal, non-verbal, language and cyberbullying, while in 2025, the figure was successfully reduced to only 0.03 per cent.
“Although the figure shows a decrease and is at a manageable level, one case of bullying is enough to leave deep scars in the lives of students and affect their social well-being.
“Bullying cases need to be studied in depth in terms of the causes and reasons for their occurrence. Perhaps it is due to bad associations or the influence of social media, and this matter will be seriously studied by counsellors so that preventive measures can be implemented more effectively,” he said.
He also called for GAMA to be translated into concrete and consistent actions, including counselling sessions, student leadership training, mentor-mentee programmes and strict discipline enforcement.
He said that with continuous efforts, there will be greater awareness among children on the dangers of bullying, while close cooperation between schools, police, parents and the local community can make Melaka a model state in dealing with the issue of bullying in boarding schools.
“The state government will not remain silent on any bullying incident and recommends that a transparent and easily accessible complaints platform be established to ensure that students’ voices are heard and their protection is guaranteed through swift and effective action,” he said.
– BERNAMA
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