Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education (Magpie) chairman Mak Chee Kin said parents should be kept abreast of the details “so they know what to expect”.
Given that parents are still in the dark over the new policy, Mak told FMT, concerns have been raised around issues such as privacy breaches, and the social stigma attached to reports that may turn out to be unfavourable to individual students.
Education director-general Azam Ahmad, who disclosed the plan for the new guidelines last month, said they would address issues such as bullying, sexual harassment and security at school.
Several high-profile cases of bullying at school last year have raised alarm among parents. In one case in Selangor, a 16-year-old girl was stabbed to death, while in Sabah, a Form One girl, who was found unconscious near her dormitory, had allegedly lost her life as a result of bullying.
Among others the guidelines, which are currently being finalised, will require students who are being transferred to another school to submit reports of their physical and mental health as well as disciplinary records to their new school.
Mak told FMT that parents may be discouraged from sending their children for counselling if these records were to follow them. Apart from that, it may also lower their chances of being placed at schools of their choice.
“(Over and above that), parents may be hesitant about sending their children for early intervention or to avoid it altogether. As a result, the child’s mental health may deteriorate further,” he said.
This, he said, would be a major policy failure given that early intervention is what schools should encourage.
In terms of privacy of data, Mak questioned if such information will be restricted to only a select group of teachers.
“Parents definitely do not want the whole world to know that their child has disciplinary problems,” he added.
Sharing Mak’s concerns is Ikatan Guru Muslim Malaysia president Azizee Hasan, who stressed the need for confidentiality to prevent labelling or stigma.
Azizee agrees in principle that health and disciplinary records of students should be shared to enable their new schools to monitor the students to maintain safety.
However, he also stressed that teachers should be better trained, and schools should engage more qualified counsellors given that student discipline and welfare cases have become more complex.
Separately, the National Union of the Teaching Profession pointed out that there is already a policy that requires schools to keep personal files of students, but the process has not always been properly managed.
Its secretary-general Fauzi Singon told FMT there had been cases of school authorities “ignoring or failing to care about such records”, leading to some schools rejecting students seeking a transfer from another school.
“This new policy will mean all schools must be responsible for such records,” he said.
Fauzi also pointed out that while teachers are not expected to diagnose mental health conditions, there are concerns that they could still be saddled with added paperwork and data duties linked to student records.
He said teachers should not be burdened with extra clerical work and such tasks should be handled by school support staff.