Stop the cane: Abolish physical punishments at schools, urge educationists

This is the second article in a three-part series on teacher training and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) within Malaysian schools. We spoke to educationists, the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), and the Parent Action Group for Education to gather their advice and recommendations on handling these matters effectively.

SHAH ALAM - Malaysia's education system is facing a call to action from leading figures, urging an end to physical punishment in schools.

Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said school leadership must first believe that punishment was not essential.

She added that some teachers still advocate for the return of public caning in schools, but unfortunately, past instances of public caning have led some adults to become abusers.

“Once teachers are convinced, there needs to be a change in mindset towards punishments. School leaders should provide alternatives to punishment.

“They must first understand why students challenge them. In some cases, it could be from an undiagnosed learning disability which requires a timely prescription or problems at home which manifests in school,” she said when contacted recently.

Hence, Azimah emphasised that teacher counsellors were trained for this purpose and should engage parents consistently until positive changes are achieved.

She said that teachers must exercise compassion towards children, regardless of how naughty the student may be or how frustrated the teacher may feel. This approach is common sense and is not dependent on policies.

Meanwhile, educationist and former Universiti Malaya professor Tan Sri Dr T Marimuthu urged the abandonment of traditional punitive measures, deeming them unacceptable.

He advocated for the implementation of new approaches grounded in a social-psychological understanding of students, advising the use of counselling instead.

"You cannot be punitive. That means refraining from imposing sentences that may cause harm. The punitive methods of previous generations are no longer acceptable.

"We are living in a different world now. The 21st century has brought many unexpected changes, transforming us into a knowledge society,” he added.

Marimuthu stated that traditional punishments were no longer acceptable.

He said, teachers, particularly when dealing with discipline problems, should rely on guidance and counselling teachers to manage difficult students.

In some cases, he added headmasters could also intervene by providing advice and talking to the students.

He emphasised that there are alternative methods for disciplining children.

Hence, Marimuthu stressed educators should develop strategies that clearly outline acceptable and unacceptable practices, revising their standard operating procedures to ensure they were not punitive.

In a related matter, Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) Commissioner Professor Datuk Noor Aziah Mohd Awal said that if students breached disciplinary rules, they should not be subjected to corporal punishment or torture.

She added that actions such as caning or locking a child in an empty classroom were unacceptable.

Aziah emphasised that these issues need to be addressed and that teachers should be clearly informed about the appropriate and inappropriate methods of disciplining students at school.

“I think as a former Children's Commissioner, I'm tired of trying to tell the Ministry that they should change the way that they punish children.

“And I think even if you look at the directive, it is very clear there are certain things that children, teachers cannot do to their students,” she said when contacted recently.

Aziah added that teachers must adhere to the directive, which prohibits actions such as slapping and forcing students to do squats.

Punishments like making a child stand in the hot sun were also unacceptable.

She believed the issue was not the lack of guidelines, but rather that teachers might not be fully aware of them.

In May, an 11-year-old student was forced by his teacher to stand in the sun for nearly three hours. He was left disabled as a result of the heatstroke he suffered.

Investigations revealed that a 37-year-old male teacher had punished the student and his friend by making them stand on the school field from 10am to 12.50pm.