PETALING JAYA: Former soldiers will be appointed as full-time wardens at all Mara Junior Science Colleges (MRSM) nationwide from Jan 1 next year, in a move aimed at curbing bullying and easing teachers' workload.
Mara chairman Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki (pic) said the initiative was prompted by complaints from MRSM teachers who felt the RM300 warden allowance did not justify taking on the additional responsibility on top of their teaching duties.
He said it was also unrealistic to expect teachers to continuously patrol hostels, particularly late at night and in the early hours of the morning, when bullying and abuse could occur.
"By creating full-time warden positions for former soldiers who retire while still at a productive age, such as in their 40s, we are also providing them with career opportunities while helping to instil discipline among students," he said in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Sept 29).
The nationwide rollout follows a pilot programme involving former military personnel as full-time external wardens at MRSM Besut and MRSM Balik Pulau.
Asyraf said the Mara Council decided to expand the initiative after reviewing a 191-page study led by Assoc Prof Dr Haliza Abdul Rahman of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)'s Institute for Social Science Studies.
Among the findings was that former soldiers were effective in maintaining hostel discipline and physical security, while their presence was positively received by students, parents and administrators.
The study also found that frequent and systematic patrols reduced opportunities for bullying and vandalism, while students reported feeling safer and becoming more disciplined in observing schedules and maintaining personal and hostel cleanliness.
Asyraf said disciplinary problems dropped drastically during the pilot, with bullying cases falling to almost zero while the full-time wardens were in place.
The arrangement also reduced the burden on teachers, allowing them to concentrate on academic performance and students' character development, he added.
Following the positive findings, 10 MRSM have appointed former soldiers as full-time wardens since July.
Asyraf said disciplinary cases at the participating colleges had so far fallen significantly.
He has also asked UPM to develop a training module for the new wardens and extend its research to look at ways of tackling mental bullying more holistically.
