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Every country has its social problems. Malaysia is no exception. All have the responsibility of finding solutions to these problems.

Then, we have often brought them up in Parliament. The Government says that everything is under control, drawing a red herring across the track. The education Ministry says that these are only disciplinary cases.

Recently, media report that four Standard Two pupils of a school in Taiping performed oral sex on each other. The Deputy Prime Minister was disgusted when he read about the incident. However, the Ministry should investigate the veracity of this report.

STUDENT CENTRES

Abdullah reveals that the Cabinet has formed a committee called Towards Handling a Rise in Social Problems. It is chaired by him with the National Unity and Social Development Ministry as its secretariat.

"It will provide reports to the Cabinet before a special meeting is held to discuss the matter," the Deputy Prime Minister adds.

We have over 8,000 schools in the country with about three million students. We see social problems among them. Many schools and parents find solutions to overcome them. Some don’t have an answer.

We are happy that many parents ensure that their children come back home after schools and that they don’t indulge in unhealthy activities. Nevertheless, we have seen that some students don’t go home after school. They visit unsavoury places and participate in unhealthy activities such as watching pornographic videos and taking drugs.

Yes, we should tighten discipline at schools, reward teachers and encourage parents to show concern. We should also study the possibility of setting up centres with healthy activities for students in various areas.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw