By Dr Bahrulmazi Edrak

When classrooms start to look like crime scenes, with patrol cars parked in the school compound, due to students being bullied, assaulted, or even killed, it is clear that our education system is in crisis.

Lately, our newsfeeds have been filled with disturbing stories involving schoolchildren, from a girl being bullied and falling to her death, another girl stabbed to death by a younger boy, to girls being gang-raped, recorded and made viral.

These are not mere isolated incidents; it is a national crisis driven by moral decline, neglect, and outdated policies.

Schools no longer safe

These shocking incidents in Malaysian schools have destroyed public trust. The message is simple yet alarming: that is, our schools are no longer safe.

Experts have warned that if immediate actions are not taken, Malaysia could face a school violence crisis similar to what has happened in the United States (Hafiz, 2025).

Therefore, Malaysia urgently needs a new Education White Paper that puts child safety, discipline, and moral rebuilding at the heart of our national education policy.

Around the world, governments have stepped in when violence reached their schools. Malaysia can and must learn from these examples.

In the United States, for instance, after the school shootings and bullying-related suicides, the U.S. Department of Education created the Safe and Supportive Schools Programme (SSSP) and StopBullying.gov (U.S. Department of Education,2023).

Following tragedies like Columbine (1999) and Parkland (2018), many states in the United States passed laws mandating crisis response plans, threat assessment teams, mental health counsellors, and school-police coordination.

School safety became a national security issue, not just an educational topic (U.S. Department of Education, 2023; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024).

In the United Kingdom, after the Dunblane school massacre (1996), the government enacted strict firearm control and introduced a programme called “Keeping Children Safe in Education” (KCSIE), a statutory guide making every teacher legally responsible for child protection (UK Department for Education, 2024).

In France, a series of student suicides led to the National Plan Against School Harassment in 2023 (European Commission, 2024).

Meanwhile, Germany responded with the School Without Violence campaign and added social-emotional learning to its curriculum (European Commission, 2024).

Malaysia’s Education Blueprint (2013–2025) has focused on addressing access, equity, and quality. Nonetheless, in light of current happenings, it is no longer sufficient to guarantee safety in schools.

Now, reaching the end of 2025, Malaysia can be deemed outdated in the face of today’s violent realities.

Need for revised Education White Paper

A newly revised Education White Paper should lay the groundwork for a safer, more humane education system, directly addressing the contemporary challenges.

Malaysia once led boldly in education policy. The Penyata Razak (1956) and Penyata Rahman Talib (1960) guided post-independence nation-building through a unified education system, which became the basis of the Education Act 1961, and later Malaysia’s Education Blueprint.

Those reports responded to the national challenges of their time, namely unity, access, and identity.

However, our challenges today are different. One of the elements that needs to be included is how to make schools safe again, from the moral, emotional and physical threats due to digitalisation and social media influences.

Just as the Razak and Rahman reports reshaped education for a new nation, this White Paper on School Safety and Wellbeing must redefine education policy for a new generation.

Why can’t the Education Minister step up as our former Education Ministers did? Why not learn and review accordingly from the reformed policies of the U.S., the UK, France and Germany?

Need for Policy Paper outlining problem-solving measures

It is time for the Minister to lead a committee to produce a Policy Paper that outlines imperative measures towards problem-solving, instead of impulsively introducing a new “Pendidikan Karakter” subject or launching “Kempen Anti-Buli” in schools.

If we fail to act, the violence may escalate. Teachers will live in fear, parents will lose trust, and children will normalise aggression.

Our classrooms will no longer be conducive spaces for the new generation to learn, but will turn into spaces that are vulnerable to crime. Education reforms are not only about syllabus or exam systems; safety must always be a priority.

The government must urgently enact a national policy blueprint with clear, immediate steps to protect every individual in schools.

Malaysia cannot afford empty rhetoric any longer. This is an outcry, and the public needs to know the government's intervention.

Our children's lives and our nation's future depend on decisive actions taken promptly and wisely, before another tragedy strikes.

-- BERNAMA

Dr Bahrulmazi Edrak is a Certified TVET Manager at Pusat Latihan Kerja, Kuala Lumpur, Vice President of the Majlis Integrasi Pendidikan Negara (MIPN), and Adjunct Professor at Alzette University, France.