Alor Setar: A male teacher at Sekolah Menengah Keat Hwa (Persendirian) here has been detained by police following allegations of sexual harassment involving several female students at the school.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the school’s Board of Governors secretary, Ng Kok Weng, stated that the school received a call from the police at 5 pm last Saturday informing them of the teacher’s arrest on the same day. The 34-year-old teacher was detained after police received two complaints-one from a current student and another from a former student-regarding alleged harassment.

Ng reported that based on information from the police, the school convened a meeting yesterday and formed a special committee to address this matter. He announced that among the decisions made were to immediately suspend the teacher from duty and to prohibit him from entering school premises to avoid further distress to the students involved until investigations are fully completed.

Ng added that the school is fully cooperating with police investigations and has submitted several documents and relevant information. The teacher has been employed at the school since 2016.

Ng stated that the school has also reported the matter to the Ministry of Education (MoE) and that all actions taken have prioritised the mental and physical well-being as well as the privacy of the students involved. Counselling sessions will be provided to affected students. To prevent such incidents from recurring, the school has briefed all students and teachers thoroughly about this matter and established a dedicated complaint channel to facilitate the reporting of any misconduct.

Meanwhile, Kota Setar Police Chief ACP Siti Nor Salawati Saad was contacted for comment, but no official statement has been issued at the time of reporting.