Teachers, PTAS must be alert of school surroundings

Teachers, officials at the Education Office and Parent-Teacher Associations need to be more alert of the current school surroundings to curb delinquency among students, which include drugs and gangsterism.

Citing an example of an incident at Nilai Lama, Nilai, yesterday, Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the incident went viral and caused the public to blame the education system.

"Incidents such as what happened in Negeri Sembilan can easily go viral. It may not be under the responsibility of the ministry, but when it happens, people easily condemn the education system.

"We need to be accountable, even if not fully, of other incidents such as at religious schools, for instance in Johor," he said here today.

He was speaking at the state level ''teachers with the community'' programme, that was also attended by Education director-general, Tan Sri Dr Mohamed Khair Yusof, State Education and Health Committee chairman Datuk Samsulkahar Md Deli and state education director Rusni Ab Jalil.

Yesterday, the media reported that a teenage boy was forced to drink poison by a group of students in an incident at Nilai Lama on Wednesday.

Further commenting, Mahdzir said the ministry has not taken any action on the matter yet as the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) was investigating the case.

In a press conference later, Mahdzir said that the ministry has not yet received an official report on the incident.

-- BERNAMA