The Malaysian Paediatric Association urges urgent school security audits, stronger anti-bullying measures and adolescent mental health support after a student’s death in Johor.
THE Malaysian Paediatric Association (MPA) expresses its heartfelt sympathies to the family, friends and teachers of Irene Sofiya Mohd Khairool Faisal, the 16-year-old student who was tragically killed on school grounds in Yong Peng, Johor recently.
As an organisation dedicated to the care, protection and advocacy of children and adolescents in Malaysia, we are profoundly shocked and saddened by this senseless act of violence.
Schools must remain absolute sanctuaries of safety, learning and growth. A tragedy of this magnitude occurring within a school environment shatters the collective trust of parents, educators and children across the nation.
The loss of a young, promising life who had a noble dream of becoming a doctor to serve her community is truly devastating.
In response to this horrific event, the MPA calls upon all relevant stakeholders to take immediate and decisive action:
Urgent evaluation of school security infrastructure: We welcome the Education Ministry’s announcement of an immediate security audit. We urge that this audit encompass not just surveillance enhancements by CCTV but also comprehensive physical monitoring during and after official school hours, the locking up of unused school rooms and halls. and security checks at school entrances for dangerous items.
Addressing adolescent behavioural and social well-being: As there has been a number of recent school violence incidents involving minors as perpetrators or suspected perpetrators, this underscores an urgent societal need to address adolescent mental health, interpersonal conflict resolution and the early identification of violent tendencies.
We call for stronger collaboration between parents, schools and healthcare professionals to foster emotionally secure and supportive environments for our youth.
MPA has a “Positive Parenting” educational programme to support parents (https://mypositiveparenting.org/).
MPA can also assist the government in designing anti-bullying strategies.
Assoc Prof Dr Intan Juliana Abd Hamid (President)
Dr Ong Eng-Joe (Vice-President)
Assoc Prof Dr Erwin Khoo Jiayuan (Secretary)
Exco of Malaysian Paediatric Association