Education Ministry committed to tackling sex crimes against students

ALOR STAR: The Education Ministry is committed to addressing issues related to sexual offences against children, particularly those involving school students.

Its minister Fadhlina Sidek, said they would give its full commitment to stricter enforcement of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act.

“It is important to reiterate that we have also launched guidelines on the management of cases of sexual harassment at the ministry educational institution level.

“It’s not just a guideline – it also demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues,” she told reporters after officiating the Kedah state-level Riang Ria Nutri Healthy Meals Programme (Promak) here on Tuesday (Oct 24).

She was responding to the statement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Legal and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman, on Monday (Oct 23) that stricter and more aggressive enforcement would be implemented to curb sexual abuse against children, including charging those close to the victims, like teachers and neighbours, who failed to report the matter.

On Promak, Fadhlina said the programme, which provides nutritious food to primary school pupils across the country, is a two-pronged approach to not only ensure children received nutritious meals but also to increase their school attendance rate.

“This programme is able to improve the attendance rate at school by up to 89%,” she said.

Earlier in her speech, Fadhlina said the ministry always paid serious attention to the issue of malnutrition among schoolchildren.

“The ministry is always working towards improving the Supplementary Food Programme and the Healthy Meals Programme and hopes that they will be able to overcome the issues of malnutrition and poverty among school students,” she said. – BK