Police booths in schools – discipline or dangerous precedent?

In our schools, bullying has escalated into physical violence, humiliation, and psychological trauma. A Form Two student in Kota Kinabalu was recently assaulted by seniors for arriving late to the dormitory. The Ministry of Education is now considering deploying auxiliary police and setting up police booths in schools, a stark indication of how serious the problem has become. – Malay Mail, 14 September 2025

Schools at a crossroads

In March 2024, the Federal Court of Malaysia issued a landmark ruling that affirmed that schools, the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the government have a legal duty to prevent bullying in schools. The apex court emphasised the importance of safety in schools.

It goes without saying that schools, residential or otherwise, must be safe and conducive for the purpose(s) intended. Otherwise, the providers and consumers of such institutions would face considerable difficulties in enrolment, whether of student or teaching faculty. – Mary Lim Thiam Suan, Federal Court judge

The judgment declares that the safety and dignity of students lie in the hands of teachers, school officials, the MoE and the government.

Government schools, established by the MoE, despite having a physical presence and a name, are not legal entities. Legal duties cannot be imposed on them.

Therefore, a duty of care for the safety of students and others who may be on the premises of the school falls on the teachers and school officials such as the principal, as well as the MoE and the government.

The minister’s duty under the Education Act 1996 to provide education in national schools must now be understood to include a duty to maintain safety in those schools.

As if that were not sufficient, the Penal Code was amended early this year specifically to address bullying not only in schools but generally (The Penal Code (Amendment) Act 2025).

Yet even as the law speaks about duty and penal sanctions, the system appears not to be able to ensure safety in schools.

Two recent cases have shown that despite the clear ruling of the apex court, there is no evident attempt to address bullying in schools.

In Kota Kinabalu, a Form Two student was violently assaulted by seniors for arriving late to the dormitory.

In Papar, a young girl died under deeply troubling circumstances in a religious boarding school.

The inquest in the latter case has revealed delayed responses, institutional negligence and even threats against medical experts who gave evidence at the inquest.

These are not isolated failures. They indicate a disconnect between the authorities, the schools they oversee and what is actually happening in schools.

Minister’s response

In response to the recent case in Kota Kinabalu, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek announced that the ministry is considering deploying auxiliary police personnel and establishing police booths in schools.

She stated that these proposals are being reviewed through the school safety reform committee, an ongoing safety audit, and town hall sessions with the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Communications. These efforts are part of a broader study into a proposed anti-bullying bill.

But the proposals raise a fundamental question. Does the minister and the ministry understand their duty to ensure safety in schools as laid down by the Federal Court and implied under the Education Act 1996?

It is doubtful if a police presence will deter bullying, which is a complex phenomenon – an aberration of adolescent development. It is marked by subtle patterns of isolation and intimidation of victims that frequently go unnoticed. When bullying becomes physical, it is the culmination, not the beginning, of a long and invisible ordeal. The police are not trained to deal with such conduct.

Danger of criminalising schools

The deployment of police, even if they are only the auxiliary police, into schools changes the fundamental character of schools from safe sanctuaries of learning into detention centres. It tells students they are not individuals being educated, but potential offenders monitored by the police. It tells teachers that their authority is insufficient and may be overridden. And it tells society it can no longer trust schools.

What begins as a response to bullying can quickly become a system of criminalisation. Students who make mistakes, who struggle emotionally, who come from vulnerable backgrounds, may now face punishment instead of psychological support. The very institutions meant to nurture them will instead treat them as potential criminals.

There is a stark irony here. In the US, under President Donald Trump, the deployment of federal troops to suppress civil unrest was widely condemned as authoritarian overreach. In Malaysia, we now risk a similar trajectory, militarising spaces meant for growth and treating children as threats.

Federal Court’s warning

The Federal Court did not call for police booths. It called for accountability, supervision and a culture of respect. It laid out a framework for reform through awareness campaigns, curricular change and institutional responsibility.

The court’s decision was a call to moral leadership, not criminal enforcement.

Yet, the discipline of students of all ages remains a necessary part of any education curriculum. Basic values of mutual respect for another must be inculcated in all our young, and it should not be left to expensive and unfortunate incidents, such as revealed in these appeals, to remind us of these values. – Mary Lim, Federal Court judge

To respond with policing is to misread what is a carefully crafted judgment. It is a retreat from the hard work of reform and outsourcing discipline to those wielding truncheons, not trained as educators.

Bullying is a major social problem. The ministry must make attempts to discover why there is a proliferation of bullying in our schools. It needs a broader consultation than with the Ministry of Law or the Ministry of Communications. Advice must be sought from psychologists, educationists, parents and yes, students – especially the victims of bullying.

Schools must address the problem directly by instituting procedures that would enable the detection of bullying and provide avenues for students to seek help discreetly.

Schools must not be seen as battlegrounds. They must remain sanctuaries as the Federal Court declares. Discipline must be rooted in dignity, not fear. And education, which is now recognised as a constitutional right, must be led by those who understand its purpose – not just to instruct, but to inspire good conduct.

Schools must neither mirror the larger community where bullying and intimidation have become a political art, nor feed that world with graduates adept in that pernicious practice.

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