The suspension will be effective until its Secondary Education Department Disciplinary Committee makes the final decision on the status of the students who had earlier been suspended until Monday.
Mara deputy director-general Mohamed Roseli Dol said the students who lived in the college’s hostel will be allowed to explain and defend themselves over the allegations to the college’s appeals committee.
“The appeals committee’s decision will then be brought to the disciplinary committee at the Mara headquarters for the nature of the punishment to be conclusively made on the students involved,” Roseli said in a statement.
“The duration of the suspension imposed on them will meanwhile, be extended until the final decision is made.
“The police are still conducting their investigations on the matter. The college is ready to give full cooperation to them to resolve this case,” he added.
On May 7, Mara’s College Disciplinary Committee decided to suspend the students for a week until May 15.
However, at its meeting on May 15, the committee agreed to lengthen the suspension until this Monday.
Roseli said Mara, an agency under the rural and regional development ministry, will not compromise on the issue of bullying.
“Mara takes seriously the welfare and safety of its students in all its educational institutions.
“That is why, as soon as the bullying was reported, the MRSM Parit management, the hostel’s warden and the teacher in charge had hurried to the scene of the incident to investigate and monitor,” he said.
Yesterday, Central Perak Police chief Supt Mohamad Zainal Abdullah reportedly said the six victims were beaten by 10 seniors for refusing to lend their football shoes.
All the victims were aged 14, and were beaten by seniors aged 15 and 16, he said.
He added that police received six reports on the bullying incident on May 6.