Education ministry denies acting on misconduct only after cases go viral

GEORGE TOWN: Education minister Fadhlina Sidek has dismissed claims that her ministry only acts on allegations of misconduct involving its teachers after such cases go viral.

Fadhlina maintained that whenever such cases occur, parents and teachers report them to the authorities, who then conduct thorough investigations.

Subsequent action is also taken, such as bringing affected students to the social welfare department for protection and health checkups, she said.

Nevertheless, the minister urged all district education offices to be on alert for such cases and not wait for them to stir controversy online before taking action.

“Anyone with information about sexual harassment and other cases needs to report them directly to the authorities. Don’t use social media to report them, as it leads nowhere. Reporting to the authorities is the right course of action.

“So we ask all members of the community to firmly adopt this stance as it involves children who must be protected,” she told reporters at SJKC Heng Ee here.

The minister was responding to a case in Sarawak where a teacher allegedly committed sexual misconduct against a student and was then transferred to a district education office.

The Sarawak education department said this was a temporary measure in view of police investigations, Berita Harian reported.

Fadhlina added that the new school safety guidelines launched yesterday outlined the collective responsibility that schools, teachers, and parties handling cases involving children need to take on.

Separately, the minister said an internal probe is under way after a Year Six pupil in Perlis was reportedly injured when a classmate pulled her chair away just as she was about to sit.

The incident occurred in February but Bernama reported yesterday that the 12-year-old girl has been unable to attend school for nearly four months due to a lower back soft tissue injury.

She was also diagnosed with functional neurological disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, following the incident.