The apex court said this in restoring a High Court ruling that awarded about RM600,000 in damages to a former student who suffered permanent ear damage as a result of bullying by five seniors.
“Schools of any arrangement are for learning, where a person is educated in the many disciplines and subjects, preparing them for responsibilities, choices and positions in life,” Justice Mary Lim said in a 20-page judgment released last week.
Lim, who will be retiring next month, said a child’s time in school comprises important formative years where personalities are developed and traits enhanced.
“It is therefore only reasonable and fair to expect that these places of learning, even if residential facilities are provided, are safe and conducive.”
The former student, now aged 22, had sued five of his bullies, then Form 5 students who are now 26 years old, for repeatedly kicking and slapping him.
As a result, the victim who was in Form 2 suffered a ruptured eardrum and can no longer engage in water-based activities.
The victim also suffered depression from the bullying and eventually transferred to another school in July 2015.
In his September 2019 judgment, then High Court judge Zainal Azman found that the school had been negligent in allowing the bullying to take place in the prefects’ dormitory. He ordered the nine defendants in the suit to pay RM616,634.20 to the plaintiff.
However, on May 20, 2021, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision and ruled that the plaintiff had failed to prove the liability of the five senior students, thus finding the other defendants not liable for the incident.
Last October, a three-member Federal Court bench chaired by Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and joined by Lim and Justice Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil heard the appeal by the ex-student.
Lim said the appeal concerned an unfortunate event of assault at SM Sains Sultan Mahmud, a residential school in Kuala Terengganu, nine years ago.
She said there was no conceivable reason for the Court of Appeal to disturb the award of the High Court on the matter of hearing aids for the appellant.
“The need for such aids was certainly there and there was, again, plenty of evidence to support the appellant’s claim for the replacement of these aids over time,” she said.
The apex court also awarded the appellant another RM150,000 in costs.
Lim said there was ample evidence that all five defendants named in the suit had assaulted and battered the appellant.
“All pieces of evidence were evaluated by the trial judge and (the court) was satisfied on a balance of probabilities that the appellant’s case was proved. The judge’s findings were correct on the facts and in law,” she added.
Lim also said the bullying or assault was reasonably foreseeable, contrary to the position taken by the Court of Appeal.
The other defendants named in the suit were senior assistant for student affairs Sulaiman Gharif, the school’s former principal Meriam Jusoh, the education director-general and the Malaysian government.
Lim said it could not be denied that the sixth to ninth defendants owed a duty of care to all students enrolled in the school, collectively and individually.
She said the sixth to ninth defendants remained accountable for the acts of bullying and physical assault occasioned by the first five defendants as it appeared that not enough was done to prevent the abusive acts from occurring.