00:00As the Ministry reviews its SOPs for dealing with school bullies, a Parents Group says
00:05the Education Ministry must ensure that school authorities will follow through on reports
00:10of bullying.
00:12This follows an announcement by the Education Ministry that SOPs on school safety and the
00:16handling of disciplinary issues, including bullying, would be reviewed following the
00:21death of Form 1 student Zahra Khairina Mahathir.
00:25The Parent Action Group for Education Chairman Noor Azeemah Rahim said the revamped SOPs
00:29must go beyond the basic mechanism of report, investigate, punish, to include early intervention,
00:36protection, and follow-through.
00:38She said schools should be required to log bullying complaints into the Education Ministry
00:42system within 24 hours with complaints automatically escalated to the District Education Office
00:48or State Education Department if no action or follow-up is documented within seven days.
00:54She added that educators who ignore or downplay complaints should face disciplinary action
00:58ranging from formal warnings to suspension or, in severe cases, termination.
01:03She also said the Adwan Bully portal, which will be revamped to allow anonymity for complainants,
01:08must have two-way confidential communication so that authorities can probe complaints without
01:13revealing the victim's identity.
01:15While reports should be reviewed by a unit within the Ministry rather than the school involved.
01:20Alliance for Safe Community Chairman Lee Lam Thai also suggested for schools with sufficient
01:25resources to install CCTVs all around as a deterrent and to assist in probes into bullying.
01:31He said while the government could introduce a specific law to deal with bullying in schools,
01:36it would be more important to ensure the Ministry adopts measures that are practical, realistic,
01:41and workable.
01:42Naram Tharajah, FMT.
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