Corpun file 26563 at www.corpun.com
The Sun, Kuala Lumpur, 28 April 2017
Govt has no plans to abolish corporal punishment in schools
By Aiezat Fadzell
KUALA LUMPUR: The government has no plans to abolish corporal punishment in schools, said Deputy Education Minister (II) Datuk Chong Sin Woon (pix).
Chong however said Putrajaya is willing to consider the option if the suggestion garners a lot of support from the people.
"We have a very tight procedure when it comes to punishment relating to caning.
"For example ... only the school headmaster or disciplinary teacher are allowed to cane, the caning only applies to boys and it cannot be in public, we have very tight laws on this.
"Currently, the government has no plans to abolish corporal punishment in schools, but we are open to discussion, if that is something the rakyat want, we should discuss about it," Chong said during a press conference after he officiated the National level Nilam Award 2017 held at the Putra World Trade Centre here today.
He was responding to Unicef's suggestion for Malaysia to ban corporal punishment in schools, following the death of an 11-year-old boy who was allegedly abused at a tahfiz school.
Chong said the incident which allegedly led to the death of Mohamad Thaqif Amin Mohamad Gaddafi was an unfortunate incident which should not occur at any educational institution in the country.
He said the suggestion by Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid to make it compulsory for all private tahfiz schools to register under the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim), must be supported.
"We are not blaming any state government, but when we have a centralised management, we will have a standardised SOP (standard operational procedure)," he said.
Currently, private tahfiz schools come under the jurisdiction of the state religious offices.
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