Students Who Celebrated End Of Term By Vandalising School Assigned Community Service
A video of teenagers recklessly trashing their school in Penang has locals enraged.
By Deborah Chan — 20 Feb 2023, 04:32 PM
A video of Penang students destroying their school facilities on their last day of school has gone viral on several social media platforms
In the video, a group of students are seen trashing their high school while spurring one another on.
Their acts of vandalism include breaking plastic chairs, kicking in holes on toilet doors, tearing down the cloth on their notice boards, and bending the blades of their ceiling fans.
The incident happened on Friday, 17 February, the last day of their schooling term which is followed by a month-long break.
The students can be seen laughing and running in and out of classrooms they vandalised.
The video caused a stir amongst the school's Parents and Teachers Association (PIBG) and the Penang Education Department (JPN), prompting a response and an investigation into the incident
According to a statement released by JPN, they viewed the incident seriously and reminded all schools to play their part in ensuring such things don't happen again.
"JPN will not compromise with any misconduct, especially those that involve vandalism and gangsterism among students of the state," read the statement.
A meeting involving the schools, the students, and their parents was held on 18 February to determine the proper punishment for the students' wrongdoings.
Following the meeting, it was decided that the students will be assigned community service as a form of behavioural intervention
According to Bernama, the students will have to take part in community service as decided in the meeting.
"They will be involved in community service as part of a 'character and manners intervention' and immediate measures will be taken to ensure no repeat of such cases," read the statement.
A campaign to prevent vandalism and a comprehensive action plan will also be intensified in line with the seven pillars of the Ministry of Education.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek hopes that locals will stop sharing the video of the students and the school involved so that they can focus on rehabilitating the students, reported The Straits Times.
The value of the damaged property is still under assessment.
