The Court of Appeal has dismissed a former student’s attempt to revive a lawsuit against the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Malaysian government over an alleged breach of statutory duty linked to a bullying incident at a private Chinese school.
A three-member bench led by Judge Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, together with Judges Datin Paduka Evrol Mariette Peters and Datuk Nazarin Wok Nordin, ruled that the applicant had failed to meet the legal threshold required for leave to appeal. The court also ordered the former student to pay RM20,000 in legal costs.
The case stems from an incident four years ago in which the teenager, then a student at a private secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, claimed he suffered serious injuries after allegedly being struck forcefully on the head by a male classmate. In 2023, he filed a civil suit through his father against the alleged attacker, the school, its teachers, and the Ministry of Education.
Before the lawsuit was filed, the student’s father had lodged a complaint through the ministry’s official website, urging authorities to take action. However, the ministry informed him that the matter had already been handled by the school.
On 5 May last year, the Sessions Court struck out the claims against the ministry and the government, ruling that neither party was the employer of the school’s staff and therefore could not be held vicariously liable for any alleged negligence. The court also found that although the school was registered under the Education Act 1996, it remained a privately managed institution rather than a government school.
The Sessions Court further ruled that the school’s administration, management and staffing were entirely handled by a private body responsible for appointing and paying its employees. It said the ministry’s role in supervising private schools was limited to ensuring compliance with education laws and national education standards, and did not make it responsible for the day-to-day operations of such institutions.
The former student later appealed after the High Court dismissed his challenge on 22 December last year. His lawyers argued that the private Chinese school fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and that the government should be held accountable for allegedly failing to take appropriate action.
However, Senior Federal Counsel Liew Horng Bin, representing the ministry and the government, argued that private Chinese schools do not fall under the ministry’s jurisdiction in the same way as national schools. He said that if the institution were legally classified as a private school under existing laws, it would have been required to follow the national curriculum and require students to sit for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, which was not the case because the school operates its own syllabus and examination system.
Liew, assisted by Federal Counsel Anis Najwa Nazari, also told the court that police had investigated the complaint before classifying the case as “No Further Action” (NFA). He maintained that claims suggesting the government had failed to act were inaccurate.
