Education Minister Visits College In KL After “Period Checks” Claim

The Ministry of Education (MOE) stressed that it does not tolerate physical menstrual spot checks among female students in schools.

On Tuesday (26 October), the Senior Minister of Education, Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin had took to his Facebook page to share that his ministry is committed to ensure that such practices eradicated from the institutions under the Ministry of Education.

In the post, he said that he had pay a visit to a school in Setapak right after he returned to Kuala Lumpur from his trip to Sarawak, where the alleged menstrual spot checks were reported.

Meanwhile, those who went along with him were the Secretary-General of the MOE and the Director-General of Education Malaysia.

“I take the allegations on this matter seriously. If there is such a practice in any MOE institution, we are committed to ensuring that it does not continue to happen.” he said.

He added that he had spoke with the students there to obtain their honest comments. In addition, he had also listen to the explanations from school principals and teachers to obtain a better understanding of the situation.

Nonetheless, Dr Radzi said the MOE is always committed to provide a safe and comfortable environment in schools and hostels, as well as to create prosperous schools for all.

Meanwhile, Malay Mail reported that the Education Minister had received a tip off from a whistleblower on Twitter who said that spot checks were conducted by educators at Kolej Vokasional Setapak on 30 girls aged 18 to 19.

It is said that they were asked to prove they were menstruating with a cotton bud swab.

Last week I received a message from a whistleblower who attends Kolej Vokasional ERT Setapak. On 18 Oct at around 7.50pm, she and about 30 other young women (aged 18-19) were rounded up, given cotton buds and asked to 'prove' that they were on their period.

— Tashny Sukumaran (@tashny) October 26, 2021

Malay Mail also reported that these “period checks” had stopped for a while after the furore earlier this year but the practice began again after someone performed their prayers alone instead of with others at the hostel surau.

Earlier this year, there were reports that schools are conducting similar spot checks on girls and the Members of Parliament had questioned Radzi, adding that it was a violation of the girls’ rights.

The incident then caused an uproar with multiple politicians calling for an investigation and to put an end to the practice.

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