KUCHING: A young student’s trust in school as a safe place was shattered after a discipline teacher in a private school allegedly went beyond the limits of acceptable punishment, leaving the child injured and emotionally scarred.
The Sarawak Consumers Association (PPS) and the International Legacy Education Foundation (IELF) revealed that the case started when a class monitor reported noise in class. Instead of addressing the matter fairly, the discipline teacher punished the entire class, including the monitor, with two strokes of the cane on the palm.
But what shocked parents most was that one student was singled out. After receiving the same punishment, the child was struck again — this time on the head. Photos shared by the family show clear cane marks on the student’s palm.
Since the incident, the child has refused to return to school, living in fear and suffering serious emotional trauma. The parents, deeply distressed, have taken the child to hospital for examination and lodged a police report.
PPS and IELF condemned the act, stressing that the Ministry of Education (MOE) guidelines clearly state that caning is only allowed on the palm or clothed buttocks — never on the head. Striking a child on the head, they said, not only breaks the rules but could amount to a criminal offence.
“Schools should be places of safety, learning, and growth. Teachers are entrusted with guiding our children, not harming them. Discipline must never cross into violence. A child’s future can be destroyed by such acts of anger,” PPS and IELF said in their statement.
IELF founding president Dr. Wynson Ong Teck Ping, FRSA, added that no teacher should ever take out personal emotions on students. He reminded educators that every child deserves care, respect, and protection.
Both PPS and IELF vowed to closely monitor this case until justice is served, ensuring the student and parents are not left to suffer in silence.