KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 1 -- The Anwar government tabled the much-anticipated Anti-Bullying Bill for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat this morning, amid heightened concerns over violence in schools.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, while tabling the bill, said she hopes to get it to second reading and open the debate by Wednesday.

In a parliamentary reply made last Tuesday, Azalina said the bill would give educational institutions autonomy to use their internal committees as a first line of prevention, detection, management and reporting of bullying, and in a structured way.

For cases unresolved at the institutional level, the bill provides a child-friendly Anti-Bullying Tribunal, with powers ...