Teachers banned from uploading images, videos of school incidents

The Education Ministry will issue a circular prohibiting all teachers from uploading images or video clips of certain school incidents on social media, said Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan.

He said the circular would be released as soon as possible to prevent the occurrence of yet-to-be confirmed incidents from going viral, which could adversely affect all parties.

"I urge schools to be careful when uploading images in future as they may go viral even before the truth is known.

"We should not post photographs and videos without thinking of the people who would suffer the consquences," he told reporters after officially opening the 'Jelajah Pesta Buku Antarabangsa 2016' at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bukit Sentosa, Bukit Jelutong in Rawang today.

He was commenting on an incident in which a Year Two pupil at a Klang school was allegedly forced to snip the tip of his own tongue by five Year Three pupils on March 24.

Selangor police chief Abdul Samah Mat yesterday confirmed that there was no element of bullying in the case.

Photographs of the victim with the tip of his tongue cut, believed to have been uploaded by a teacher, went viral and gave rise to various reactions from the public.

Asked whether action would be taken against the teacher, Kamalanathan, who is also Hulu Selangor MP, said the matter would first be discussed at the ministerial level.

In the meantime, he said the Education Ministry would provide counselling to the student involved to help boost his self-esteem and to continue his studies in the school.

- Bernama