MOE committed to tackling sexual crimes against school students - Fadhlina

ALOR SETAR: 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 the MOE would therefore give its 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's not just a guideline, but it demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues," she told reporters after officiating the Kedah state-level Riang Ria Nutri Healthy Meals Programme (Promak) here today.

She was responding to the statement by the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Legal and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman, yesterday that 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, Fadhlina said the programme, which provides nutritious food to primary school pupils across the country, was a two-pronged approach to not only ensure children received nutritious meals but also to increase their school attendance rate.

"This programme is able to 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