KUALA NERANG, July 4 — The Education Ministry has finally agreed to leave it to the police instead of the school management to handle cases of bullying in schools.
Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said he also supported Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s remark that the move would curb bullying in schools which had become rampant with apparent criminal elements.
“I support the deputy prime minister’s remark because there are some cases which involved elements of crime and should be handled by the police,” he told reporters here today.
He also urged school management to immediately lodge a police report about any instances of bullying among their students and not to sweep it under the carpet.
“School management must not hide any of such cases. If there is elements of crime, it must be reported to the police so that immediate action can be taken immediately,” he said.
In another development, the minister said the government will not compromise on the requirement of a compulsory pass in Bahasa Melayu (BM) in the Sijil Peperiksaan Malaysia (SPM) examination.
“At SPM-level, a pass in BM and History is compulsory, which means that if you fail the two subjects, you will not get SPM certificate,” he said.
He said as the status of BM as the national language was enshrined in the Federal Constitution, the language is indeed in a class of its own and there should be no excuse for the requirement compulsory pass in BM requirement to be relaxed for appointment for any position in the public sector. — Bernama
