Don't be afraid to report any cases of sexual crimes against students, education minister tells teachers
SHAH ALAM, 16 March — Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has urged teachers today to report any sexual cases involving students, assuring them that they would not get into trouble for doing so.
Speaking at the Convention to Protect Students from Sexual Exploitation here, Fadhlina said one of the event's aims was to erase any feelings of being embarrassed or scared — since this could endanger any child survivors.
“That's why the affirmation is made specifically for this convention to focus on Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act of the obligation to report,” she told a press conference.
Section 19 of the Act states that it is an offence for someone to not inform the officer in charge of the nearest police station of a sexual offence against a child. Those found guilty can be fined not more than RM5,000.
The Nibong Tebal MP also pointed out that the education ministry was committed to increasing the number of counseling teachers in schools.
Fadhlina said the initiative was not solely due to the sexual cases, but also for cases related to mental health and discipline issues among students.
“We have also added more counseling teachers for the special needs students.
“So this is an ongoing initiative to get more counseling teachers as there is a very high need in a variety of cases including cases like this,” she added.
