KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 — The Ministry of Education does not condone the act of slapping a student in the face as it is wrong, while teachers should adhere to a set of guidelines set by the ministry, Datuk Chong Sin Woon warned today.

The deputy education minister was reported by The Star stating the ministry’s guidelines are clear on how to implement corporal punishment for students with serious disciplinary problems.

Referring to the case of teacher Azizan Manap in Nilai, Chong also urged parents to solve disciplinary issues amicably.

"I must stress again that dragging cases like that to court has serious impact on the teaching profession and it doesn’t solve the issue,” he was quoted saying.

Azizan, 44, was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the Seremban Magistrate’s Court, yesterday, for allegedly voluntarily causing hurt to an 11-year-old pupil.

He was charged with injuring the left cheek of a male pupil of Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Semarak in Nilai at about 7 am on April 6.

A teacher of 20 years, Azizan was called in to appear in court on October 31 to face charges for allegedly slapping the pupil for indiscipline, including glue-sniffing, bullying and and playing truant.

It was reported that the family of the pupil was unhappy that the charge against Azizan had been withdrawn and may consider a civil suit instead.