ALOR SETAR, Oct 24 — The Ministry of Education (MOE) is committed to addressing issues related to sexual offences against children, particularly those involving school students, and always views the matter seriously.
Its minister Fadhlina Sidek said they would therefore give their full commitment to stricter enforcement of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (Act 792).
“It is important to reiterate that we have also launched guidelines on the management of cases of sexual harassment at the MOE educational institution level.
“It is not just a guideline, but it demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues,” she told the press after officiating the Kedah state-level Riang Ria Nutri Healthy Meals Programme (Promak) today.
Fadhlina was responding to yesterday’s statement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Legal and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, in which she said stricter and more aggressive enforcement would be implemented to curb sexual abuse against children, including charging those close to the victims, like teachers and neighbours, who failed to report the matter.
On Promak, the minister said the programme, which provides nutritious food to primary school pupils nationwide, is a two-pronged approach to not only ensure children received nutritious meals but also to increase their school attendance rate.
“This programme can improve the attendance rate at school by up to 89 per cent,” she said.
Earlier in her speech, Fadhlina said the MOE always paid serious attention to the issue of malnutrition among schoolchildren.
“The ministry is always working towards improving the Supplementary Food Programme (RMT) and the Healthy Meals Programme (HiTS) and hopes that they will be able to overcome the issues of malnutrition and poverty among school students,” she said.
— Bernama
