KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry should place trained psychology graduates in schools to address students' mental health concerns and help ease teachers' workloads.
Syerleena Abdul Rashid (PH-Bukit Bendera) said the proposal could strengthen early intervention to address emotional and psychological issues among students.
She said psychology graduates who had undergone the necessary training and accreditation could complement existing counselling services.
"This would not only help address students' mental health issues but also reduce teachers' workloads, as teachers are already required to teach their respective subjects while taking on counselling responsibilities," she said.
Syerleena raised the matter during the debate on the Supply Bill 2027 in the Dewan Rakyat, following concerns expressed by Zakri Hassan (Bersatu-Kangar) over student safety and violence in schools.
Two other members of parliament (MPs) raised similar concerns.
Zakri had earlier highlighted several incidents involving threats to students' lives, raising concerns over the effectiveness of existing measures to ensure their safety in schools and on their journeys to and from school.
Referring to a recent case involving Form Four student Irene Sofiya at a secondary school in Batu Pahat, Johor, he questioned what further measures the ministry would introduce to prevent similar incidents.
Zakri said more attention should be given to tackling the root causes of violence and improving student safety.
He also called for disciplinary teachers to receive better support.
"Teachers cannot simply leave their classrooms to handle disciplinary matters, as they are also accountable for their teaching responsibilities. This places a considerable burden on disciplinary teachers," he said.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman (Pas-Sik) called on the ministry to review the ratio of school counsellors to students to determine whether existing resources were sufficient to meet students' needs.
Early detection and intervention were crucial to helping vulnerable students before their problems escalated and potentially led to criminal behaviour, he said.
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