KUALA TERENGGANU: School bullies should not be expelled from schools as they can be rehabilitated to be better students, Deputy Education Minister II Senator Datuk Chong Sin Woon said.
He said teachers should counsel and rehabilitate such students to return to normal life.
He said expelling such students would worsen their behaviuor as they would feel shunned by society and be deprived of sound education.
“There is a good chance for them to recover from bad behaviours at an early age through counseling, so that they can eventually be a better person.
“We need to remember that these students are our future leaders,” he said at the National Counseling Psychology Symposium 2017 here.
Chong said every teacher should act as a disciplinarian in advising the affected students.
“Thus, all teachers should take this responsibility and not rely on appointed discipline masters to carry out the task.
“Doing so will allow each teacher to keep an eye on their students’ activities and behaviour, which they can report to the relevant parties of suspicious cases,” he said.
On bullying cases which had become viral on social media, he said: “Bullying cases are less than 0.03 per cent in the country.”
Asked if some schools were deliberately hushing up indiscipline to keep a clean slate, Chong said in the era of information and communications technology, it was near impossible to do so.
“Futhermore, there are Parent-Teacher Associations, police liaison officers and other means of making public such cases, if there is inaction by certain quarters,” he said.
He acknowledged that students were increasingly exposed to smartphone applications and the threats were not only physical but corrupted minds which affected emotions.
To address the issue, Chong said the ministry would place more professional counseling teachers in schools.
Meanwhile, Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman said sharing a cordial relationship with students would instill a sense of belonging and accountability by the latter.
“Students will feel more secure and be open to advice from teachers.
“I had experienced this during my teaching years before entering politics.
“I managed to coax problematic students who played truant to return by engaging them through methods like giving them opportunity to take part in sports and other extra-curriculur activities,” he said.
Many of them who were not inclined towards academic would excel in outdoor activities and proved to be model students, he added.