PUTRAJAYA: School principals and management teams have been warned by the Education Minister to stop covering up bullying incidents.
Fadhlina Sidek said her ministry is committed to addressing such cases transparently and in line with established guidelines.
The ministry takes all bullying cases seriously and complaints must be handled appropriately, she said in response to a recent media report on “commando-style” bullying in a boarding school.
Fadhlina also urged bully victims or their parents to report such cases directly to the ministry via its bullying complaint portal (moe.gov.my/aduan-buli-kpm).
She pledged that the action taken would be more transparent as the ministry would be able to update the complainant directly.
“Parents are entitled to escalate bullying complaints to higher levels, including to the relevant authorities if they feel that their child has not received justice,” she told a press conference here yesterday.
Fadhlina said the “commando” incident occurred in a school that was not under her ministry’s purview.
“However, we want the community to take bullying seriously and promptly report complaints to us to ensure appropriate action is taken,” she said.
Sinar Harian reported yesterday that students were allegedly forced to strip naked and perform a two-hour “commando rest” by their seniors at a boarding school in Kuala Lumpur.
The daily also said students were forced to soak their feet in a bucket of hot water, resulting in second-degree burns.
The “commando rest” is a planking training performed by military commandos, who support their body with only the forehead and feet.
A student, who wanted to be known as Fakhrul, said the students were also kicked repeatedly by their seniors.
He said the juniors could choose to be punished alone, with companions, or in groups.
“In one incident, I was isolated in the bathroom and was ordered to perform the act upside down.
“Not only that, my face was submerged in a bucket of water in that position, as if they wanted me to drown,” he said.
A parent, who wanted to be known only as Husin, told the daily that upon finding out that his son was bullied at school, he wanted to lodge a police report.
However, he did not do so as he was worried about his son’s safety, so he wrote a letter to the school management.
“I met with the principal, but he was angry with me for writing the letter. At that point, I knew my complaints would go nowhere,” said Husin.
