Don’t Hide Bullying Cases To Protect School Image – PM

NILAI: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reminded schools not to hide bullying cases merely to protect the institution’s image, but instead to take immediate action to protect victims and address the problem effectively.

He said bullying cases may be considered trivial by some parties, but the impact on victims is immense, and such cases can occur in any educational institution.

“I (also) do not think a principal or headmaster is wrong if he exposes a case. There are 1,000 students, and there are two bullying cases, you can’t blame the principal. But (it becomes) wrong if he does not take action and tries to cover up the case,” said Anwar.

He said this when speaking at the Temu Anwar Programme with Students and Staff of the Institute of Teacher Education (IPG) Technical Education Campus in Bandar Enstek, which was also attended by Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek here today.

The Prime Minister said the persistence of bullying incidents shows that there are still weaknesses in efforts to shape students’ character and morals, even though religious education is now more widespread than before.

“If we really uncover it, there are bullying cases every day. This cannot be allowed. It means (bullying) has become a disease… a moral disease,” he said.

Anwar said education should not only produce individuals who excel academically or possess technical expertise, but must also shape human beings who understand humanitarian values and respect others.

“We can become technocrats, IT (information technology) experts or hold a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy), but what is all that for if we are not educated to become human beings who understand humanitarian values and respect others,” he said.

As such, Anwar said educators bear a great responsibility to ensure that educational institutions become places to gain knowledge while also producing a generation that is faithful, moral and possesses compassion towards fellow human beings.

At the same time, he acknowledged that the performance of the country’s teaching profession is at a very good level, and he wants that performance to continue to be improved in line with the quality of the country’s education at the highest level. 

BERNAMA