I am appalled at the Senior Minister of Education, Radzi Jidin for his complete lack of action in handling period spot check violations at schools. The concept of safe school is of paramount importance. Schools must be a safe space for children, for adolescents to grow in. It should never be a place where trauma is created and period spot checks are precisely that, it is a traumatic experience.
Although I am disappointed and angry at the recent repeat incident of period spot checks at Kolej Vokasional ERT Setapak, I am not surprised that it is happening again six months after period spot checks were revealed to be taking place nationwide. Six months ago, we were made aware of period spot checks because 275 former students and current students were brave enough to produce testimonies of their experience of period spot checks in schools.
Six months later, it is happening again. This is because MOE has failed to take any action and meaningful response to the issue. On September 29, 2021, I received a written answer to my Parliament question on period spot checks and other sexual harassment taking place in schools from the Ministry of Education. My question was “What is MOE’s long term systematic plan to stop sexual harassment in schools including period spot checks”. I received a 2-page long answer but nothing in that answer has indicated any new effort by the ministry as a response to the crisis.
The Parliament answer provided steps like IHSAN and PPS. Steps like IHSAN (Modul Intervensi Jenayah Seksual Kanak-kanak di Sekolah) are not new steps, and its target is to increase the awareness of students towards sexual crime. But where is the awareness program for the adults? Don’t we forget, out of 311 perpetrators, 247 of them were teachers, ustazah (female religious teacher), ustaz (male religious teacher) and wardens.
Pegawai Perhubungan Sekolah (PPS) where a police officer is designated to oversee a particular school is also not a new step and has been in existence for so long. If this program does not stop sexual harassment and period stop checks in the past, what do we believe it will deliver different outcome now?
Although the last paragraph of the answer included a general paragraph that the Ministry is now looking into the matter holistically, it certainly feels like an empty assurance with little commitment. The recurrence of period spot checks is clear evidence of MOE’s incompetence in handling the issue.
Malaysia has laws that protect children and the Education Act 1996 itself advocates for access to education. Access to education also means the responsibility to provide a safe space for education and that is the responsibility of the Minister of Education. Malaysia is also a signatory to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and we have an active obligation to ensure children including teenagers are protected from all harm including bodily violations like period spot checks.