Malaysia’s scramble to tighten school rules after a disturbing wave of violent and sexual assaults among pupils is a short-term fix for deeper social and institutional decay, experts and teachers say, warning of a “systemic collapse” that has exposed students to grave dangers.
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Several brutal incidents this month – including the alleged murder of a girl and two gang-rape cases inside schools – have prodded the government to introduce new measures like installing surveillance cameras in schools, deploying police patrols and reintroducing caning under “strict conditions”.
The plan even includes banning smartphones for students under 16 and increasing government monitoring of social media use.
On Wednesday, a 14-year-old boy was charged in a Petaling Jaya court with allegedly stabbing a 16-year-old schoolmate to death inside a school toilet in Selangor state.
Eight boys were charged in Melaka and Kedah states in two separate alleged cases of gang-rape at schools that took place within four days of each other earlier this month.
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In a shocking further allegation of abuse, in Negeri Sembilan, local media reported that police were investigating claims that a nine-year-old girl was molested by her school’s security guard and his girlfriend.