By DayakDaily
KUCHING, Oct 15: Sri Aman MP Dato Sri Doris Sophia Brodie has warned that Malaysia’s education system is raising a fragile generation that is easily offended and quick to give up, as everything today must be handled with softness in the name of emotional well-being, leaving teachers afraid to act, schools fearful of blame, and students bearing the consequences.
Debating the Budget 2026 in Parliament on Tuesday (Oct 14), she said the nation is facing a worrying moral and disciplinary decline among its youth, reflected in the alarming increase of bullying, sexual crimes, and misconduct among students across the country.
Reflecting on her own school days in the 1970s, Doris said discipline was once the foundation of education, where teachers instilled respect and responsibility through firm but caring guidance.
Today, however, she lamented that overprotectiveness and misplaced sensitivity have weakened that foundation. “This culture of handling everything with softness has produced a generation that lacks resilience and moral grounding,” she said.
Citing data from the Royal Malaysia Police, Doris revealed that more than 3,000 bullying cases were recorded between 2022 and 2024, nearly 60 per cent of which occurred in schools, while 400 cases of molestation and rape involving minors were reported last year alone.
She said the numbers were “deeply distressing” and pointed to systemic weaknesses in moral and value-based education.
She also referred to the tragic incident earlier yesterday in which a Form Four female student was fatally stabbed by a Form Two male student at a secondary school in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, describing it as a heartbreaking reflection of how far the situation has deteriorated.
“These are not just numbers. They represent the faces of our children, our future generation, who should be building dreams, not living in fear, trauma, and anxiety,” she said.
Doris thus urged that the RM66.2 billion allocation for the Ministry of Education (MOE) under Budget 2026 be used not only to build schools, laboratories, and digital infrastructure, but also to “restore the soul” of the education system. She said the focus must shift towards moral education, emotional resilience, and character formation.
Among her key appeals were for the introduction of an Empathy and Compassion Module in schools to nurture respect for human dignity, empathy, and courage; increasing the number of counsellors and psychologists to ensure better support for students; and strengthening inter-ministerial cooperation between KPM, KPWKM, and KDN to enhance counselling systems, cyber safety, and trauma recovery mechanisms.
She also called for data-driven monitoring of bullying and sexual harassment cases to ensure transparency, and for teacher training programmes to equip educators with skills to detect and address early signs of behavioural issues and trauma among students.
“Budget 2026 must be a budget that builds the soul, not just walls, floors, and toilets. Only by nurturing individuals with integrity, empathy, and the courage to stand against injustice can we truly build a Malaysia Madani that is humane, resilient, and morally strong,” she emphasised.
Dorris concluded by urging the government to ensure that the massive education allocation restores dignity, values, and character among Malaysia’s youth.
“Only through concrete action, courageous reform, and effective spending can we ensure that every Malaysian student is protected, valued, and guided to become a person of character and resilience,” she said. — DayakDaily
