Deputy Education Minister Mahadzir Mohd Khir told Parliament today that his ministry has no jurisdiction to use the country's Internal Security Act (ISA) against students involved in crime but said it can be used by the police on students suspected of involvement in criminal activities.

"The use of the ISA against students is not within our purview but that of the Internal Security Ministry. If there are problems that cannot be handled at the school level, it will be referred to the police," he added in response to a question from Loh Seng Kok (BN-Kelana Jaya).

The MP had asked whether students involved in gangsterism could also face the wrath of the ISA.

Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby later, Mahadzir said it was "up to the police" to use the ISA to investigate and punish students in schools and universities involved in crime but opined that the authorities will not abuse the law in doing so.

"It's not for me to decide or comment whether the ISA should or should not be used on students," he added when pressed further.

The ISA, which was first enacted by British colonialists fighting a communist insurgency in the 1950s, allows for those detained to be held without trial for two years with the option to extend the detention orders indefinitely.

Students in institutes of higher learning are also subjected to restrictive laws such as the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA), which among others, bars students from any association with social or political organisations.

Misunderstood causes

Mahadzir also clarified that the number of students involved in truancy and other disciplinary problems have reduced, based on reports received from various schools nationwide.

In clarifying claims that he had criticised teachers for disciplinary problems in schools, he was adamant that he had "never blamed teachers for the high truancy rate in schools."

Meanwhile Idris Harun (BN-Tangga Batu), in a supplementary question to Parliament, insinuated that disciplinary problems in schools were rampant because a high percentage of principals in educational institutes are women.

"A women's nature - soft and indulging - may contribute to the children's indiscipline," he said, evoking adverse reactions from several parliamentarians in the House.

In response, Mahadzir said he knows for a fact that schools headed by women are not problematic and that statistically, institutes with male principals showed more students with disciplinary problems.

Idris had said that of 7,207 primary school principals nationwide, women made up 2,173 and out of 1,899 secondary school principals, 816 were women.

"It is not a gender issue," Mahadzhir asserted.