A HOLISTIC STRATEGY

THE Education Ministry must be commended for appointing an action committee to adopt measures to ensure that bullying in schools does not worsen.

In a press conference earlier this week, Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon revealed some disturbing statistics on the matter.

He said 2.03 per cent of students were involved in disciplinary issues. Last year, 111,895 students had disciplinary problems, with 95,046 from secondary schools.

These students are likely to be recruited as gangsters, who will bully the public and even become full-fledged gangsters and criminals.

Is that what we want? Are the figures not alarming enough to urge the ministry to come out with more drastic measures to combat bullying in schools?

It is thus laudable that a key performance indicator (KPI) has been set to reduce disciplinary problems from 0.4 per cent to 0.02 per cent. However, the time frame has to be clearly stated and pursued relentlessly.

Otherwise, we will continue with the same old apathy that has led to this situation.

I also propose that a report card be presented to the public on an annual or frequent basis on the ministry’s progress in reducing the number of bullying cases.

Let the parents, students and people be aware. Heads of