Parents against caning in schools

PETALING JAYA, May 18 ― A parent group opposed school canings, but teachers supported corporal punishment after the Education Ministry proposed to grant schools more authority to manage disciplinary issues.
The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) agrees with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), which has expressed concern with the planned amendment to the Education (School Discipline) Regulations 1959, that includes corporal punishment as a method to tackle discpline issues.
“Although caning is something of a grey area since there are those who claim it is beneficial while others are silent, the advances in psychological understanding means we ought to consider more scientific methods,” PAGE chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said.
Instead of caning students for bullying, Azimah suggested the victim and the perpetrator resolve the problem amicably together with their families.
“Perhaps the bully might be able to perform some social service to the victim and his family as a form of atonement. Caning should be the last resort, or abolished altogether,” she said.
Suhakam noted last Saturday the Child Act (Amendment) Bill 2015 substituted the punishment of whipping on male child offenders with community service.
However, National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Hashim Adnan was adamant corporal punishment played a fundamental role in protecting students.
“As teachers, we want students to behave themselves and to have a school which is safe for everybody. Corporal punishment will safeguard innocent students who earnestly attend school to study, without having to be frightened of being picked on,” he said.
He argued punishing one bully would protect 99 per cent of the students, even if the perpetrator was at risk of psychological damage.
“Doing away with corporal punishment means giving in to those thugs who bring social problems while leaving the ordinary students too frightened to come to school,” he said.
NUTP also said schools generally do not impose corporal punishment on a whim as they follow Education Ministry guidelines.
“It might vary depending on the situation, but schools must follow the basic requirements before meting out discipline. Only boys are caned whereas girls will only be counselled,” he said.
According to Hashim, a school would issue a student a maximum of three warnings. A panel consisting of the head teacher, discipline teacher and school counsellor would oversee such cases.
A student will only be caned if the final warning is ignored.