Bullying managment committee to focus on school students, says Fatimah

KUCHING, Feb 3 2026: Sarawak has formed a  bullying issues management committee  to address bullying cases in a more structured and comprehensive manner, especially in schools.

Fatimah Abdullah: From the presentation that was made, we found that the issue that requires the highest focus at the moment is bullying cases among school students. 

 Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister Fatimah Abdullah said the scope of the committee set -up will include bullying cases in schools, higher learning institutions, workplaces as well as non-government or private educational institutions.

However, she explained that the decision to focus on schools was made based on the presentation of current data which showed that bullying cases among students required more serious attention at the initial stage.

"From the presentation that was made, we found that the issue that requires the highest focus at the moment is bullying cases among school students.

"This does not mean that bullying cases do not occur in the workplace or in other locations, but for now, we do not have complete data.

"Until the data is obtained, the main focus is to address bullying issues among school students," she said in a press conference after chairing the committee meeting today.

She said the committee will also create a lead agency to focus specifically on bullying issues in private schools and subsequently in the workplace since the Standard Operating Procedures for bullying management are different from the government.

For the record, statistics from the Sarawak police show a significant increase for last year when 49 bullying cases were reported involving 66 people to assist in the investigation compared to 15 bullying cases in 2024 involving 34 people.

“This year as of January 31, three cases have been reported involving two people to assist in the investigation,” she added.

In the meantime, she said that various awareness programmes will be implemented to provide understanding to school students, students of higher learning institutions, employees and private school students about the meaning of bullying, its effects and the available channels of assistance.

"The programmes that will be implemented will focus on creating awareness so that all parties understand what bullying is, what support systems are available and what actions need to be taken if faced with a bullying situation.

"The most important thing is that if we do not speak up or do not report, the bullying will continue to occur.

"Therefore, bullying must be stopped by getting the appropriate help," she stressed.