KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) – School heads should rid of the attitude to protect their school image or good name by covering sexual crimes involving their teachers and staff.
A crime analyst, Datuk Akhbar Satar, said the problem, if not resolved, would lead to the sexual predators to commit similar offence even when they were to be transferred to other schools.
“School heads should be honest when they receive reports (on sexual crimes). They should discharge their responsibility without any compromise. When they receive such reports from students or parents, they should immediately report to the police, instead of protecting the predator to protect the school’s good name or image.
“Such a culture provides more opportunity (to commit the crime) for the predators and if not stopped, or stern action not taken, like just sending the predator for counselling, the problem will become serious and tarnishes the good name of educationists,” he said when contacted by Bernama here today.
Akbar was commenting on a disclosure by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) of sex offers made to teachers by students in exchange for good examination results.
The director of the Institute of Crime and Criminology at HELP University said the matter should not be petty and urged students who had fallen victims to their teachers to lodge a report.
“Students should dress, talk and behave appropriately and avoid a situation that can lead to incidence of sexual crime between students and teachers,” he added.
He cited the findings by Cohen & Felson on three elements that were required to be present for a crime to occur, namely motivated offender, suitable victim and absence of a capable guardian.
President of the Parent Action group for Education (PAGE), Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said cases involving sexual crime should not happen among educationists who had been looked upon highly in the society.
Therefore, she said, stricter action and sentence that commensurate with the offence should be imposed on the predators.
“Teachers who accept sex offers and with that kind of attitude should not be in the education sector,’ she added.
Referring to Section 27, 28 and 29 of the Child Act 2001, she said it was the duty of the medical officer, family member and child care provider to lodge report if there were reasonable grounds to believe that a child was abused,
Meanwhile, National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Kamarozaman Abd Razak said it would be a disgrace to the teaching profession for teachers or educationists to accept sex favours from their students in exchange for good examination results.
He hoped teachers and educationists would protect the good name of the teaching profession and helped to make schools a safe and comfortable place for students and teachers as aspired by education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik.
– BERNAMA
