KUALA LUMPUR: The legal system is not the way to resolve the issue of truancy, said the Bar Council.
Its president Yeo Yang Poh said the council's Law Reform and Special Areas Committee had been asked to look into calls for legislation to detain and punish truants and their parents.
“But we feel there should be a more detailed understanding of the issue.
“It is not something which should be dealt with using the legal system,” he told a press conference here yesterday to announce an upcoming public forum on truancy.
The one-day forum on “Truancy: To Jail or Not to Jail – or What?” will be held at the Bar Council auditorium here on Nov 11.
Organising chairman Serene Ong said the committee would prepare a report of the forum and forward it to the council.
“The Bar Council will then decide whether it will be forwarded to the relevant ministries,” she said.
Asked if there was any law dealing with truancy, forum organising committee member Su Tiang Joo said: “Currently, truancy is not a statutory offence.”
An English daily recently reported that over 14,600 students had been caught playing truant so far this year.
Last year, more than 11,800 students skipped school and in 2004, more than 15,400 students were caught.
The forum is open to teachers, parents, students, non-governmental organisation representatives, lawyers and the public.
The speakers will include International Islamic University law faculty's Asst Prof Dr Farah Nini Dusuki, counsellor C. Venukopalan, Shelter Malaysia executive director James Nagayam and psychologist Dr Goh Chee Leong.
For enquiries, call 03-20313003 (ext 148 for Dominic and ext 210 for Hidayah).
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