Fadhlina: Ministry probing alleged bullying of disabled student

The Education Ministry is conducting a thorough investigation into a complaint of a student with disabilities who was allegedly bullied by her teacher at school.

Minister Fadhlina Sidek said all parties including the school involved have been identified and various quarters are roped in to ensure that the issue is looked at comprehensively.

“Insya-Allah, we will deal with it according to our work process... thus far, the case is under investigation and we will ensure that the process goes smoothly,” she said.

Fadhlina (above) said this after the launch of the ministry’s Malaysian Education Development Plan 2013-2025 Annual Report for 2022 today.

Yesterday, the local media reported that a disabled student under the Special Education Integrated Programme at a school was traumatised after she was allegedly bullied by a female teacher.

At the same time, Fadhlina urged the public to use all available channels such as the Public Complaint Management System (Sispa) and the ministry's social media platform to make complaints about bullying cases or other general complaints.

‘Use proper channels’

“We want to invite the community to use the proper channels so that we can deal with all issues more efficiently and effectively based on our process and workflow,” she said.

In another development, regarding parents’ complaints that the current syllabus is seen as difficult for students to master, Fadhlina said her ministry views the issue seriously.

“For that purpose, an engagement session regarding the school curriculum will be held involving all parties in preparation for a change of the new syllabus, which is usually made every 10 years and the next new syllabus will be implemented in 2027,” she said.

However, she added that parents should be given the understanding that only five percent of questions at school require high-level thinking skills.

“We have to be fair because there are children who have slightly higher skills than others, so five percent of the questions are for children who have high-level thinking skills, while the other questions can be mastered according to their age level,” she said.

- Bernama