IN defending pupils against sexual harassment, abuse and assault in school and hence ensuring school is a safe place for them, young people and student activists banded together to create the National School Walkout Day (NSWD).

The title leaves us with no doubt that pupils will be boycotting schools with the aim to challenge educational institutions from top to bottom to act against sexual harassment in schools, considering the recent revelations of rape jokes, sexual harassment against victims and period spot checks in schools.

There is a belief that allegations of rape and sexual harassment at all levels often go unreported in Malaysia, which emphasises again the need for an anti-sexual harassment law that is unfortunately still being stacked under the tables of our suspended Parliament.

Yet, I am still astounded by the recent revelations from Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam about how “casual” rape jokes are being accepted when an educator thinks it is okay to share it, while many male pupils laugh about it.

This is all the more astonishing to me personally given that most of my primary and secondary education years were spent in Sam Tet, an all-boys school in Ipoh.

It goes without saying the recent news on school’s period spot check is another completely new revelation to me. I was informed by my female Muslim intern that period spot checks are a common occurrence in Muslim schools, and I find it so hard to believe that such unthinkable practice is prevalent in other schools in my country, and this is my first-time hearing about this.

There is also a deep sense of unease within me the issue was only brought to national attention when some victims have already moved on from school life but nevertheless are still being haunted by such traumatic experiences.     

The two examples speak to an educational institution that is still largely empowered by conservative beliefs that is increasingly out of date and paying little attention to the problems of rape culture and sexual harassments in schools.

Review and reforms are what is urgently required but instead the new Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani has undermined the concerns of students by describing the rape threat against pupils as merely a “joke” while Education Minister Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin has very little to comment on even though there are continued calls on social media for making school a safer place.

As for the teacher who made lewd jokes in front of Ain, he was not immediately sacked for his offensive comments but merely transferred to the Selangor Education Department.

While there is an ongoing police investigation of the teacher, the Education Ministry could make a resolute and firm stand against sexual harassment by relieving him of his duties from any education-related responsibility.

All these point to the fact that educational institutions of this country are still very resistant to reform, at least in terms of tackling sexual harassment against pupils.

Whether you are supportive of the NSWD movement, this is the political and cultural context that we must first grasp and also which has compelled student activists to call for such a controversial decision.

Nevertheless, is it a controversial act for pupils to walk out of school for a political cause? The famous young climate activist Greta Thunberg once decided not to attend school for a period of time in 2018 to highlight the climate emergency the world is facing and demand the Swedish government to reduce their carbon emissions as per the Paris agreement.

Similarly, the student-led March for Our Lives in the United States had also organised numerous school walkout days to address the issue of unchecked gun sales and mass shootings.

These student activists-led protests all have a common theme in addressing social issues, which the younger generation are disproportionately affected.

In the case of Greta Thunberg climate activism, the younger generation stands to lose the most should the world continue its path of environmental degradation in the name of economic development.

The students from the March for Our Lives are clearly affected by the mass shooting in schools and urged the federal government to have a more stringent check on gun sales and raise the age of gun ownership to 21.

In Malaysia, the pressing concerns that motivate pupils to corral around the NSWD is none other than wanting a stop to sexual harassment in schools.

We should also view the NSWD movement in Malaysia positively, especially after the constitutional amendment of lowering the voting age to 18. Aside from lowering the voting age, the amendment has also enabled greater political participation for they have to think about the kind of politics that they want at a much younger age, and that process would naturally render the students to assess critically the performance of their respective schools, teachers and even educational institutions.

And as I have explained previously, the backlash that the Education Ministry received so far has not been translated into any concrete action. This is also where pupils have decided to take matters into their own hands, in a powerful and nevertheless peaceful manner.

As enshrined in the federal constitution, all citizens have the right to assemble peacefully and clearly the pupils of this country, being the citizens of this country, also have a say in assembling and speaking out against any government policies and institutions that they deem to be working against their interests, especially about sexual harassment and lewd jokes in schools that clearly have no place in this 21st century society. – May 16, 2021.

* Kenneth Cheng has always been interested in the interplay between human rights and government but more importantly he is a father of two cats, Tangyuan and Toufu. When he is not attending to his feline matters, he is most likely reading books about politics and human rights or playing video games. He is a firm believer in the dictum “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.