Asyraf Wajdi urges Education Ministry to follow Mara’s army veteran warden initiative

Asyraf Wajdi urges Education Ministry to follow Mara’s army veteran warden initiative

KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry should consider appointing full-time wardens among army veterans to curb bullying in schools, said Mara chairman Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

He said this follows an increasing number of bullying cases reported in schools nationwide.

“Deploying veterans as wardens would provide them with employment opportunities while instilling greater discipline among students,” he added.

“Mara is prepared to share with the ministry a study by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) on the effectiveness of a nine-month pilot project involving full-time external wardens recruited from army veterans at Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM).

“Among the key findings during the implementation period were zero bullying cases and an increase in student discipline. Monitoring was more consistent, while responses to student welfare and safety issues were faster.

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“Additionally, the hostel environment became safer, neater, and more conducive. This positively impacted teachers, who were no longer burdened with warden duties and could focus on their core teaching responsibilities,” he said in a Facebook post.

Asyraf Wajdi said academic performance also improved, with highly positive feedback from students during field surveys and visits.

“The combination of firmness and parental values positions these veterans not merely as wardens, but as mentors and educators to the students,” he said.

Based on the study, Mara decided to expand the initiative to 10 more MRSM campuses last month as an initial strengthening measure before rolling it out across all 58 MRSM nationwide starting January next year.

“This approach is believed to be capable of strengthening the hostel management system in a more structured, professional, and effective manner.

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“I have also asked the UPM team to help develop a dedicated training module for future wardens.

“This module will focus not only on discipline and security, but also on instilling human values, empathy, and parental care, ensuring they truly embrace their role in nurturing MRSM students like parents in a hostel, in line with the Mara Education Philosophy,” he said.

He noted that many military personnel end their service between the ages of 38 and 45 and remain in their productive years, making them well-suited for the education sector to help improve student discipline.

“Furthermore, this serves as an alternative solution to address the welfare issues of armed forces veterans, particularly non-pensionable veterans, which are frequently raised.

“They complete their service while still productive, but not all receive a monthly pension, depending on their recognised length of service,” he said.