Education Ministry has not received full report on eight-year-old caned in Malacca

KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has not received the full report on a claim that an eight-year-old student was caned by a headmistress in Alor Gajah, Malacca.
Deputy Education Minister I Datuk P. Kamalanathan said today further updates will be shared with the public once police investigations are completed.
"A police report has been made (and) the state education department is also conducting an internal investigation. However, we are not able to reveal the report until the police have completed their investigation," he said in a news conference after launching PINTAR Foundation's new mobile learning unit here.
He was responding to a news report which stated the student's back bled when she returned home from school on June 22.
Alor Gajah police chief Supt A. Asmadi Abd Aziz said investigations had been initiated.
"We will pass the investigation papers to the deputy public prosecutor," he said.
State Education, Higher Learning, Science and Green Technology committee chairman Datuk Wira Md Yunos Husin said the state Education Department would be lodging a report against the headmistress, adding that it was not the first time a complaint had been made against her.
On a separate note, Kamalanathan said parent-teacher association (PTA) fees are not compulsory to be paid.
"I have not received the final report on the issue, but it (the situation) should not have happened (as) PIBG fee is not something which is compulsory. It (the fee) depends on the parents.
"The ministry is investigating the case and will share with the media once the final report is completed," he added.
He was commenting on a report in a Chinese daily that claimed a school in Petaling Jaya had made it compulsory for students to pay the PTA fee.
Earlier, Kamalanathan said PINTAR, a non-profit organisation that stands for Promoting Intelligence, Nurturing Talent, Advocating Responsibility, would expand its mobile learning unit (PMLU) to rural areas, including Sabah and Sarawak.
The PMLU is a bus converted into a fun learning space meant for primary and secondary school students with interactive gadgets aimed at engaging them in science and technology.