Parliamentary Replies
Plagiarism
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mdm Cynthia Phua, Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education (a) how serious is the issue of plagiarism among students in secondary schools, junior colleges and universities in Singapore; (b) whether the Ministry is providing any guidance to the students especially in view of the recent change in pedagogy leaning towards research and self-learning; and (c) what actions are or will be taken against students in the most extreme cases of plagiarism.
Response
Appropriate disciplinary actions to be taken against plagiarism are set out in schools and institutes of higher learning (IHLs). For example, students caught plagiarising will not receive a grade for the subject concerned. In extreme cases, they can face suspension or expulsion.
Processes have also been put in place by schools and universities to inculcate academic integrity and honesty and to reiterate to students that plagiarism is wrong. For instance at Junior Colleges, subjects that require course work or independent study such as Project Work require students to complete a formal declaration as part of their coursework submission to declare that the projects and reports are their own work. These declarations are endorsed by the supervising teachers. Should students need to make reference to other sources of work, teachers have also emphasized to their students the need to acknowledge fully and in detail the words and ideas of others. Students are also aware that software such as Turnitin1 can be used by teachers and assessors to check for plagiarism. At present, the number of cases of plagiarism is comparatively low – less than 10 cases each year at our national examinations and less than 0.3% of enrolment in the universities.
Footnote
- Such plagiarism software checks students’ work for improper citation or potential plagiarism by comparing it against documents in its database.↵