Education ministry denies report on prohibited punishments in schools

The education ministry today denied issuing any circular on the forms of prohibited punishments in schools following a report claiming that teachers could be punished for criticising their students.

In a statement, the ministry said it had never issued a tabled titled “MoE Disciplinary Unit: Forms of Prohibited Punishment” as spread on social media.

It also provided a list of disiplinary management procedures issued by the education ministry, namely:

1. Education (School Discipline) Regulations 1959;

2. Professional Circular Letter (SPI) No. 8/1983: Imposing Ordinary Punishment on Students Who Commit Misconduct Not Stated in Lesson Rules;

3. SPI Bil. 7/1995: Procedure for Imposing Actions and Punishment Against School Students;

4. SPI Bil. 10/2001: All Teachers Are Disciplinary Teachers;

5. SPI Bil. 7/2003: Power of Teachers to Cane Students; and

6. SPI Bil. 7 of 2011: Implementation of Operating Standard Procedure (SOP) 1: 3: 7 Reporting and Actions to Address Disciplinary Issues.

“In relation to this, the education ministry emphasises that the procedures for the management of student discipline are based on the guidelines and SPI stated above,” it said.