KOTA KINABALU: It is time for the Education Ministry to place social workers in schools to address disciplinary issues amongst students, said a social works specialist.
Prof Dr Peter Voo of the Psychology and Social Works Faculty in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) said the Education Ministry must now put more emphasis on issues such as bullying, truant and disrespect towards teachers.
“It is important to place social workers in schools at this crucial time because the job of educators has become so much more challenging and complicated,” he said.
Voo said there were many processes to go through involving teachers, parents, community and the government in educating children.
His suggestion comes after the death of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir, who was believed to have fallen from the third floor of her school hostel building in Papar.
“Social workers in schools are tasked with roles of advocating, preventing, recovering and connecting.
“Advocating the rights of students, especially vulnerable groups such as the poor, orphans, and the disabled can help prevent social ills from becoming a crisis.” he said.
He said it can also help the affected students recover from behavioral or traumatic issues, with social workers acting as the bridge between the students, their school, families and agencies involved.
Voo said in many countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and Singapore, social workers are part of the schools’ support system and often are part of the teachers or counselors group.
He said Malaysian schools only have counselling teachers or guidance counsellors who are also often tied to extracurricular academic duties.
“This is different from social workers who are 100% focused on the social and emotional issues of students.
“These are trained professionals in this field of work including case management and community intervention,” he said.
Voo said the presence of a dedicated social worker could ease the workload of teachers or guidance counselors in schools.
“Social workers can properly support these students needing the kind of emotional, psychological and mental support and intervention,” he said.
He said for UMS, their social works programme had created over 900 graduates since 2004, many of whom are now serving in government hospitals and non-governmental organisations as social workers.
Voo added that UMS is "ready to work with the government" in terms of human capital preparations and training towards this cause.
