Put clinical psychologists in schools: PAGE

PETALING JAYA: The time has come to place clinical psychologists in schools, the Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) said today.
Its chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said the problems that students face are getting more severe. She was responding to a question on who students could turn to for help when their grievances involved teachers.
M. Vasanthapiriya, 14, died last Thursday after attempting to take her own life eight days earlier. She was accused by teachers of stealing a smartphone at SMK Methodist school in Nibong Tebal.
"The education ministry has identified some 400 schools as hotspots for disciplinary and drug problems. At least in these schools, there should be a clinical psychologist," Noor Azimah said.
"There are counselors in schools, but sometimes the counsellors are teachers who are doubling up as counselors as well. This would mean their work load would be heavy and they would be bogged down."
NUTP president Kamarozaman Abd Razak said almost all secondary schools have counsellors for students.
"There are counsellors in most secondary schools, either a permanent counsellor or a temporary counsellor. A temporary counsellor is usually a teacher who has dual roles, as an educator as well as a counsellor," he confirmed to theSun.
He said it would not be a problem for students to discuss grievances they face with other teachers or with counsellors who are also teachers from the same schools.
"This is not a problem because they have to maintain confidentiality of the sessions and respect the privacy of the students. Problems only arise in cases of problematic students who do not want to open up or have trust issues," he said.
Meanwhile, Penang's Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr P. Ramasamy has slammed a blogger for lodging a police report against Seberang Prai Municipal Council councillor David Marshel over his alleged allegations that Vasanthapiriya was murdered.
Ramasamy said blogger Rajvinder Singh Jassy, who goes by the online pen name Raggie Jessy, was trying to gain cheap publicity from the tragedy.
"When the entire nation is mourning over this senseless death, this chap (Rajvinder) goes and lodges a police report on baseless grounds."