KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said says she hopes the proposed Anti-Bully Bill will ensure the safety of children in schools.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said bullying was most prevalent in schools with children being the most vulnerable victims.
Citing Education Ministry's statistics, she said there were 14,000 cases reported in primary and secondary schools each year since 2019.
When tabling the Bill for the second reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (Dec 3), Azalina recounted her encounter with a child she referred to as "Adik R”, whom she met during an engagement with students alongside Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek.
She said the students had shared their experience as victims of bullying, which includes being ridiculed and intimidated.
“They also said that they often did not have the guts to report and would rely on their peers as protectors. One of them was Adik R, who used the term ‘hero friend’ to refer to the friends who protect them against bullies,” she said.
“I hope this Bill will be a ‘hero friend’ to Adik R and our children that we will always protect them and assure them that schools are a safe place to learn and grow,” she added.
Azalina noted that there was a need for a national standard to address bullying.
She said schools under the Education Ministry and Mara institutes have their own guidelines to address bullying cases, noting that the mechanism to handle cases of bullying was not uniform.
“Overall, this means the country has 10,307 educational institutions involving more than 5.13 million students. With a scale of this magnitude, any new policy or law related to anti-bullying must be designed with broad coverage, consistent implementation, and responsive mechanisms,” she said.
The Anti-Bully Bill was tabled for the first reading on Monday.
