Disciplinary Framework Against Bullying in Schools

41 Mr David Hoe asked the Minister for Education as part of the new disciplinary framework against bullying (a) what safeguards will ensure that the framework is applied fairly in cases involving students with special educational needs or mental well-being issues; and (b) how will the Ministry ensure that suspensions, whether served in school or at home, are structured to be meaningful, supervised and restorative for the student.

42 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Education (a) whether child psychology experts were consulted in the decision to raise punitive measures for student misconduct and bullying; and (b) whether victim-centered rehabilitative or restorative measures will be explored before punishment.

43 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the mental health impact of schools caning boys as young as nine; (b) whether there is scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of caning in reducing student misconduct and bullying; (c) whether there are longitudinal studies on effects of school caning on children's cognitive development and behavioural problems in adulthood; and (d) what is the reason for applying caning only to boys.

44 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Education (a) what specific criteria and processes govern how a student's special educational needs (SEN) or mental health condition is assessed and weighed when determining disciplinary measures, including the decision to impose caning for a student offender; and (b) what structured support and follow-up protocols are in place for victims of bullying or misconduct who have SEN or mental health vulnerabilities.

45 Dr Charlene Chen asked the Minister for Education in respect of serious bullying cases, how the Ministry ensures that disciplinary actions are commensurate with the harm caused, including whether restorative measures such as structured apologies or rehabilitative programmes are used to provide accountability and closure for victims.

46 Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Education (a) what common indicators will the Ministry use to assess the effectiveness of the new anti-bullying measures; and (b) whether the Ministry will track reporting rates, case response timelines, recurrence rates and student perceptions of safety across schools.

47 Ms Elysa Chen asked the Minister for Education in view that standardised disciplinary measures will be implemented across all schools by 2027, (a) what outcomes framework will the Ministry use to evaluate whether the new measures reduce bullying incidence rates; and (b) whether the School Safety Scorecard or equivalent data will be published publicly to enable accountability.

48 Mr Xie Yao Quan asked the Minister for Education what are the Ministry's considerations for not setting up a centralised anti-bullying unit to support schools in investigating the most egregious cases of bullying and following up with disciplinary and rehabilitative actions, so as to avoid overburdening teachers.

49 Dr Hamid Razak asked the Minister for Education in respect of strengthening school-home-community partnerships to address bullying holistically (a) whether the Ministry will define standard roles and responsibilities for community partners; and (b) how the effectiveness of such partnerships in preventing and responding to bullying will be measured.

Mr Desmond Lee: My response will address the questions raised by members in relation to the Ministry of Education's (MOE's) Comprehensive Action Review against Bullying. My response will also cover related oral and written Parliamentary Questions set down for today's and subsequent Sittings.

MOE, with the support of the COMPASS (COMmunity and PArents in Support of Schools) Council, completed the Comprehensive Action Review against Bullying and announced the recommendations on 15 April. These span four key areas and nine measures, forming a comprehensive whole-of-society approach.

Let me briefly outline the four areas.

First, we will strengthen values education. Prevention must start upstream. We will place greater emphasis on shaping students' character and social-emotional skills, so they not only know what is right, but understand why it matters. Our schools will also foster a pro-social peer culture where students look out for one another, stand together against hurtful behaviour and support those who are affected.

Second, we will strengthen the school environment. Every school must be a safe, caring and enabling environment where every student can learn and grow, where bullying and hurtful behaviour have no place. We will deepen a culture of kindness and respect, and promote empathy and kindness. At the same time, we will take more proactive action – through early identification, better reporting channels, timely intervention and firm discipline for serious cases.

Third, we will strengthen school capacity. We will provide schools with additional resources to procure additional manpower, where needed, to support our teachers in student management processes. We will also enhance professional development for our educators and tap on technology to improve case management and facilitate timely communication and intervention when incidents happen.

Finally, we will strengthen partnerships with parents, families and the community. Parents and families can reinforce positive values and character at home and partner schools to support their child's development and well-being. We will also work with community partners to promote mutual kindness and respect across all sectors of society.

Members asked about the methodology and findings of the Review. MOE looked at research and drew on resources from local and international experts. These included mental health professionals, developmental and educational psychology researchers, sociology researchers and professional mediators. As part of the review, we also engaged various stakeholders, including professionals such as researchers, counsellors and psychologists, as well as School Leaders, school staff, parents and students.

We engaged or received feedback from over 2,000 stakeholders in total. There was broad agreement that addressing bullying holistically requires a collective, sustained response involving schools, families and the wider community.

Members have asked questions relating to specific areas and recommendations of the Review. I will address these questions by focus areas. Let me start with values education.

A key goal of our education system is to develop character and social-emotional skills. As I shared in this House last September, the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) curriculum already covers these areas, including respectful behaviour online and offline. CCE equips our students to disagree appropriately, cope with negative behaviour and overcome challenges. Schools also have peer support systems, where students learn to support and stand up for one another.

Following the Review, we have strengthened CCE lessons with more interactive learning strategies and real-life scenarios. This better equips students to respond when they witness or experience bullying. We have also updated cyber wellness lessons to better address evolving online risks. These changes strengthen students' character and well-being whilst creating a more caring and supportive school environment.

Many Members have asked about our schools' disciplinary measures arising from the Review. Our schools' approach to bullying and other forms of student misconduct is fundamentally an educative process. Schools follow a structured process to ensure students' safety and well-being while addressing root causes in a timely and consistent manner. This includes making a Police report for cases which warrant Police attention. Throughout this process, schools work closely with parents, keeping them informed, collaborating on safety measures and prioritising the well-being of the students involved.

When incidents are reported, schools investigate before deciding on the appropriate disciplinary and restorative actions. Actions are tiered based on severity – from reflection and detention to suspension or caning for egregious or repeated serious offences. Disciplinary measures are always complemented with counselling and restorative actions, with the aim of helping students learn, change their behaviour and repair their relationships.

Safety plans for affected students can include separating the students, removing hurtful online content and arranging for peer support. Where affected students require additional support to manage their emotions, they may be referred to school counsellors, Special Educational Needs (SEN) Officers or to the REACH (Response, Early intervention and Assessment in Community mental Health) teams for more specialised support, particularly when persistent distress is identified.

We recognise the need for greater consistency in the management of bullying across schools. MOE has provided schools with clearer guidelines on establishing offence management processes and disciplinary measures. As circumstances differ for each case, schools will assess and take appropriate action aligned to these guidelines. All schools will also develop an anti-bullying policy by the end of 2026, based on MOE's guidelines.

To ensure case management processes remain calibrated across all schools, MOE will conduct regular focus group discussions, school engagements and reviews. Cluster superintendents, who oversee a group of schools, will provide further guidance and support to schools on the implementation of these processes.

Another important aspect pointed out by Members is parent engagement. When a case is reported to the school, the school will maintain timely communication with parents, keeping them informed and partnering them to ensure the safety and well-being of their child. However, schools will require time to look into the incident and establish facts. The time taken will vary based on the complexity of the situation. Nonetheless, when an incident is reported, schools will prioritise immediate safety measures for all students involved.

In some cases, students may not report incidents to the school but may share them with their family or friends instead. In such situations, we encourage parents to report the incident to the school and work with the school to support their child. Should parents have concerns about how an incident is managed, they should share their concerns with the school to better understand the school's approach and work with the school to resolve those concerns. Beyond that, parents can also provide feedback through MOE's online and offline feedback channels.

Some Members asked about caning as a disciplinary measure. Studies show that poorly administered and frequent corporal punishment, particularly in unregulated home settings, is associated with negative outcomes.

We recognise this, and I want to emphasise that the context in our schools is quite different. Our schools use caning as a disciplinary measure, if all the other measures are inadequate given the gravity of the misconduct. They follow strict protocols to ensure safety for the student. For instance, caning must be approved by the Principal and administered only by authorised teachers.

Schools will consider factors, such as the maturity of the student and if caning will help the student learn from his mistake. In MOE's framework, schools exercise discretion on whether to use caning as a disciplinary consequence after assessing the circumstances of the offence committed. If it is used, it is never administered in isolation but always as part of a suite of restorative and disciplinary measures. Schools will monitor the student's well-being and progress after caning and counsel the student to reflect and learn, while supporting the student's rehabilitation.

Importantly, this approach is part of a framework of disciplinary measures which provides certainty of consequences, even as we support the student perpetrator to learn from the experience. This approach is based on research which shows that children and youth learn to make better choices when there are clear boundaries enforced by firm, meaningful consequences. This has a positive impact on reducing bullying and enables the school community to feel safe to learn in an orderly environment.

Caning is meted out for boys only, and as I said earlier, is only for egregious violations. This is aligned to the Education (Schools) Regulations, which only allows caning for male students. This takes reference from the Criminal Procedure Code which states that women shall not be punished with caning. Nonetheless, this does not mean that girls who bully others are less culpable. Our schools adopt a tiered approach to discipline that ensures all students face consequences corresponding to the severity of their actions. Girls could receive consequences such as detention and/or suspension, adjustment of their conduct grade and other school-based consequences.

MOE regularly reviews our discipline guidelines, to ensure that our disciplinary measures remain appropriate. We will continue to refine our approach based on ground wisdom and research.

I will now address the questions on reporting channels. I shared in this House last September about the various reporting channels available in our schools. The Review reinforced the importance of providing safe and accessible platforms for reporting student well-being concerns.

From 2027, each school will have an online reporting platform available for students and parents. A school-based platform ensures that the platform is age-appropriate, accessible and familiar for students and parents to use. Schools will be provided with guidelines on managing reports received through the different reporting channels. However, urgent cases should still be reported directly to teachers and School Leaders rather than through the online reporting platform, so that prompt action will be taken.

Some Members have expressed concern on cyber incidents. MOE recognises the seriousness of cyber incidents, ranging from online harassment to obscene and inappropriate images that may be artificial intelligence-generated. MOE will continue to provide schools with guidance on managing all cyber-related incidents, including fact-finding processes and supporting students in reporting online harms.

When the Online Safety Commission (OSC) becomes operational by end-June 2026, victims of certain online harms, such as online harassment, doxxing and intimate image abuse, will be able to seek timely assistance. Schools will support the well-being of students who encounter negative cyber incidents and guide them to report to the OSC.

Questions were also raised by Members about incidents involving students with SEN or mental health conditions. While schools uphold disciplinary standards, schools also take into consideration each student's specific needs and circumstances.

For students with SEN or mental health conditions who have been hurt, schools will first address the immediate safety concerns. Trained school personnel will also look out for signs of distress that may not be immediately visible or explicitly communicated, and provide timely and appropriate support. The broader intent is always to enable affected students to regain their confidence and restore their sense of safety and belonging.

For students with SEN or mental health conditions who have hurt others, it is especially important to help them understand that such hurtful behaviour may affect others negatively. The consequences are educative, restorative and focused on helping the student learn and behave appropriately.

Members have raised concerns about the impact of these recommendations on staff workload.

Our intent is to go upstream – to reduce the incidence of bullying and hurtful behaviours, while strengthening and streamlining current practices. In the near term, workload may increase as our schools implement the changes. MOE will therefore provide funding for schools, on a needs-basis, to hire additional manpower to provide support while managing teacher workload. This manpower could include youth workers, pastoral care officers or parent liaison officers. MOE will also bolster support for our school counsellors when managing complex cases.

Over time, as process and norms become clearer, workload should stabilise. And if the measures succeed in reducing bullying upstream, the overall burden on our school staff should ease.

To streamline case management, MOE is also exploring technological solutions to help reduce the administrative load. For a start, MOE is developing an offence management system to support case investigation, documentation and monitoring.

We received suggestions for MOE to set up a centralised anti-bullying unit to support schools in managing egregious cases. We considered this carefully. Our schools are best placed to manage such cases. Our teachers know their students well and understand the dynamics of their school communities. Where additional expertise and support is needed in specific areas or to deal with complex cases, schools can tap on the needs-based funding to hire additional manpower or seek support and advice from their respective Cluster Superintendents.

On community partners, MOE recognises that the cultivation of values such as kindness, empathy and respect in our children requires efforts beyond the school environment. We are grateful for community partners who share this commitment. For example, the Singapore Kindness Movement partners schools through programmes, such as Friends of Singa, Kindsville initiatives and Kindness Day SG, which encourage students to lead kindness initiatives.

The Centre for Fathering works with fathers to strengthen family bonds so that children feel secure turning to their parents when they face difficulties. We encourage community partners to share their expertise and initiatives as part of this society-wide effort against bullying.

Members have also asked about data, outcome indicators and measures of effectiveness. First, we will keep track of the implementation of these recommendations through regular engagements with educators and parents, as well as focus group discussions. Second, we will continue to watch student management outcomes. In terms of data on bullying incidence, as a baseline, bullying incidents in the last five years averaged three incidents per 1,000 primary school students and eight per 1,000 secondary school students per year. We will study these outcomes and review if more needs to be done.

I thank Members for their interest in this issue. While schools play a central role in creating a safe, caring and enabling environment for our students, addressing hurtful behaviours and bullying takes a whole of society effort. MOE will work with our schools, families and the wider community to create environments where every child feels safe, valued and supported to reach their full potential.