It is part of a memorandum containing 11 demands submitted to the education ministry following a series of recent violent incidents in schools.
Activist Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam, representing the group, said the module must be made a compulsory subject from Year One to Form Five and cover areas such as emotional literacy, empathy, stress management, bullying, bullying prevention, and conflict resolution skills.
“Schools must educate well-rounded human beings, not just produce exam-taking machines,” she said at a press conference outside Parliament today.
The NGOs include Mandiri, Pocket of Pink, Himpunan Advokasi Rakyat Malaysia, Projek Ruanglawan, and Liga Mahasiswa Malaysia.
Earlier, 30 people comprising parents, students and representatives of the NGOs gathered outside Parliament to demand the education ministry make schools safer. Minister Fadhlina Sidek met the group and received the memorandum.
In its memorandum, the group also called for a comprehensive sex education based on child rights and international standards that emphasise the concepts of consent, personal boundaries and emotional literacy.
It said the training must be conducted by trained teachers and implemented in an age-appropriate manner.
“Parents must also be involved through workshops and family modules so that family values and child rights can be harmonised,” the memorandum stated.
The group also called for dedicated legislation to protect students from harassment and sexual abuse, including mandatory background checks for all individuals involved with schools, and compulsory reporting of all harassment and sexual assault cases.
It mooted a safe schools commission to be established under Parliament to evaluate and advise on policies related to student safety.
“The commission must also issue annual public reports on incidents of bullying, sexual harassment, and mental health issues and conduct annual audits on safety levels and compliance of schools,” the group said.
Other demands included in the memorandum were school physical safety audits, confidential child friendly reporting mechanisms, strengthening of mental and psychosocial support in schools, regular mental health assessments, enactment of an anti-bullying Act, and a community-based approach to school safety.
Ain said if the education minister failed to implement their demands or announce a concrete action plan within 30 days, a national campaign would be launched to push for proper laws and comprehensive reform of the education system.
She said they would also call for the minister’s resignation if she continued to fail in protecting students.
MP disappointed with Madani government’s response
Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, who was present, said he was disappointed with the response from the Madani government on the issue of school safety.
He said the opposition would push for a special parliamentary session to discuss the safety of schoolchildren.
“I am confident that even the government backbenchers will join us in calling for a discussion between the government, opposition and all Malaysians,” he said after receiving a copy of the memorandum from the NGOs.