The proposed law, comprising 54 clauses, seeks to prevent and manage bullying in educational institutions, establish an anti-bullying tribunal, and provide related measures to tackle the issue.

The tribunal will prioritise resolving complaints through mediation, provided both parties give informed consent and mediation is deemed appropriate.

The bill was debated by 26 MPs who discussed the scope of the law’s enforcement, awards granted by the tribunal to victims, and the definition of bullying stipulated in the bill, among others.

Some MPs had asked why the bill excluded students in higher education institutions, who are also vulnerable to bullying.

In response, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said the government wanted to first assess the effectiveness of the law in its present form, covering students under 18 years old.

Azalina said the law aimed to be preventive in nature by allowing tribunals to issue maximum awards of RM250,000 in order to hold parents of perpetrators equally accountable.

This would incentivise parents to be more responsible for their children’s actions, thus helping to prevent bullying.

“I see this as a step in acknowledging that parents can’t pass their responsibilities to schools and teachers,” she said in winding up the debate on the bill.

Azalina also said students who were bullied outside school hours could file complaints with the tribunal if their schools said they could not handle their cases.

“We hope this law will create confidence among children that they now have access to legal defence and legal protection,” she said.