School Discipline
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Ms Braema Mathiaparanam
NMP
Question
To ask the Acting Minister for Education in the last two years, 2002 and 2003, (a) what is the number of complaints of teachers being abused by (i) parents and (ii) students; (b) how many of these cases were successfully resolved in favour of the teachers; (c) what is the number of complaints against teachers for abusing their students; (d) how many of these complaints eventually led to these teachers resigning or being dismissed; and (e) what is the support the Ministry gives to teachers who have been wrongfully complained against.
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Warren Lee
MP for Sembawang GRC
Question
To ask the Acting Minister for Education (a) if there is an increasing trend in discipline and truancy problems in schools; and (b) whether these cases involve more boys than girls or vice versa.
Response
Discipline in Schools
The State of Discipline in Schools
Dr Warren Lee asked about trends in discipline and truancy in our schools. The state of discipline in schools has been stable over the last four years. From the records maintained by schools, disciplinary offences have shown a downward trend in primary schools and remained stable in secondary schools.
The most common problems reported in primary schools have been students coming late to school or not doing assignments, which together account for over half of all offences. In secondary schools, latecoming, truancy and improper attire or grooming account for over two-thirds of offences. The number of serious offences in schools has remained small and relatively stable over the last 4 years.
A further indication of this is in the number of students arrested by the Police for various serious offences. The number has ranged between 0.3% to 0.5% of the student population aged under-19 (including students in ITEs, polys and private schools) in the last 7 years. Most of these arrests were for theft – either simple theft or shop theft.
There have been more boys than girls involved in disciplinary cases. Girls account for 19 % of offences in primary schools and 34% of offences in secondary schools. The proportion of girls is much lower for serious offences, at about 11% in both primary and secondary schools. The lower proportion of girls is also evident in arrests by the Police. Girls have comprised a declining proportion of students arrested over the last few years. In 2003, they comprised 27% of students arrested. About three quarters of these girls were arrested for shop theft.
Abusive Students
Ms Braema asked about abusive students. MOE and schools view any abuse of teachers very seriously. Respect for teachers is central to the education we provide in our schools.
In the last 2 years (2002 and 2003), there were a total of 14 reported cases of teachers being physically abused by students. Schools have in all these instances taken disciplinary actions against the pupils, including corporal punishment and suspension.
Abusive parents
Cases of teachers being abused by parents are rare.
Abusive Teachers
Cases of teachers abusing their students have also been infrequent. In the last two years, 2002 and 2003, we have handled a total of 29 cases where teachers were found to have inflicted corporal punishment on their students, outside of what MOE and the school’s own guidelines permit.
In all these 29 cases, the teachers were issued written warnings, usually by the school itself. None of the teachers were dismissed from the teaching service.
Conclusion
The Ministry is committed to high standards of discipline in our schools. We will support measures taken by schools within our guidelines to uphold these standards, and are confident of their ability to do so.
Financial Assistance
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Warren Lee
MP for Sembawang GRC
Question
To ask the Acting Minister for Education (a) whether financial hardship has been a significant factor in recent cases of persistent absence from school; and (b) whether existing aid schemes have adequate coverage for needy pupils.
Response
The reasons why students are persistently absent from schools vary. These reasons include personal and family problems, or lack of motivation on the part of the family to see the child take his studies seriously. Financial hardship has not been a significant contributing factor.
There is a wide range of schemes providing financial assistance to needy students. They can apply for MOE Financial Assistance Scheme, which grants waiver of school fees, part of the miscellaneous fees, and provides free textbooks to students. In 2003, a total of 11,417 students received help from the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme, compared to 7,387 in 2002. The numbers have gone up further this year. As at May 04, schools have processed and approved over 13,000 applications for MOE Financial Assistance Scheme. This number covers 10% of students staying in HDB 1-3 room flats and 2% of those staying in HDB 4-5 room flats. The total amount disbursed for financial assistance is estimated to be $1.5m this year.
In addition, schools help to source for support for needy students from other sources, such as financial assistance schemes administered by the School Advisory/Management Committees (SAC/SMC) and community organisations such as the Community Development Councils and voluntary welfare organizations. Under these schemes, the assistance can take the form of subsidies for enrichment programmes, pocket money, transport vouchers, free meals, stationery and uniforms. In 2003, School Advisory Committees provided $3m worth of financial assistance and bursaries to needy students in government schools. Taken together, these financial assistance schemes from MOE and the wider community ensure that no child is denied an education on account of financial difficulties.
University Education
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mdm Ho Geok Choo, West Coast GRC
Question
To ask the Acting Minister for Education (a) whether his Ministry will review and consider maintaining at least a pass in the mother tongue language in Syllabus B for admission into the universities and not allowing the flexibility of 10% of the university intake to be exempted at the discretion of the universities and (b) how will his Ministry allay the concerns of mother tongue language teachers who are not effectively bilingual, fearing the loss of their jobs or their ranking and promotions.
Response
Part (a)
The Ministry together with NUS and NTU have accepted the University Admission Committee’s recommendation that students admitted to NUS and NTU will need to obtain, amongst others, at least D7 in mother tongue or a pass in mother tongue “B” syllabus. NUS and NTU will apply this requirement to all students admitted, including the up to 10% of students admitted by the two universities under their own admission criteria. NUS and NTU will not use this 10% provision to exempt students from this minimum mother tongue requirement, but to recognise students with special abilities and achievements which may not be captured in their ‘A’ level scores.
Part (b)
Mdm Ho has also expressed job-related concerns of Mother Tongue Language (MTL) teachers. There could be some reduction in MTL teaching requirements at ‘A’ levels if students choose not to retake their MTL examinations in JC2.
Nevertheless, we will continue to need MTL teachers at both the JC and secondary levels. MTL teachers will play an important role in providing greater opportunities for MTL learning in the informal curriculum, such as enrichment exposure for students to the Chinese Language as well as activities and programmes that can enhance and facilitate their understanding of China. The Ministry is also considering introducing China-Studies as a subject in the revised JC curriculum.
More students are also offering Higher Mother Tongue Language (HMTL) arising from the recent liberalisation of the eligibility criteria. We will therefore need more senior mother tongue teachers who can teach HMTL at the secondary level. A few JC MTL teachers may be re-deployed to senior teaching positions at the secondary level. Such re-deployment takes place on a regular basis.
I am confident that our JC MTL teachers will find their roles in developing and conducting new programmes in the informal curriculum and teaching the new China-Studies subject or HMTL at secondary level no less satisfying and rewarding than helping students to improve their MTL grades in JC2.
I would like to assure MTL teachers that as long as they are flexible and continue to perform, there will be a strong need for them in the education system.
