Investigation into Montfort School Bullying Incident and Standardising Punishment Framework for School Bullying Cases

4 Mr Xie Yao Quan asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry can provide an update on the actions taken by Montfort Secondary School in response to a recent bullying incident in the school.

5 Mr Xie Yao Quan asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry will be minded to adopt a clear zero-tolerance stance towards bullying in our schools; (b) whether the Ministry will be minded to (i) set up a centralised investigation unit and (ii) standardise and centrally administer a framework for punishment and rehabilitation to deal with egregious cases of bullying in our schools; and (c) if not, why not.

6 Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry has launched an investigation into the bullying case at Montfort Secondary School; and (b) if so, what is the outcome of the investigation.

7 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Education what actions can the school take and what can the Ministry provide as a recourse to victims and their families if the bullying behaviour of a student continues even after police reports have been filed, the school's leadership informed and the bully’s parents notified.

Mr Speaker: Minister Maliki, I hope your answer is about four minutes, because that is all the time we have.

The Second Minister for Education (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman): I will try. It is an important question.

Mr Speaker: You have to, because Question Time is 30 minutes.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Okay, Mr Speaker. I beg your indulgence. May I have your permission to respond to Question Nos 4 to 7 in today's Order Paper?

Mr Speaker: Go ahead.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Thank you, Mr Speaker. And my response will also address the written question filed by Mr Leong Mun Wai, which is scheduled for a subsequent Sitting.

Mr Speaker, I first want to thank Members for their concern for the well-being of our students. We all are very concerned about the well-being of our students.

On the Monfort Secondary School fighting incident, the Ministry of Education (MOE) issued a media statement on 3 March 2025 about the outcome of the school’s investigations and the actions taken by the school. So, I invite Members to seek clarifications if needed, if we have time.

For Members who asked about MOE’s processes for handling bullying incidents, these have been comprehensively detailed in MOE’s Parliamentary response on 14 October 2024. These remain relevant. However, most of this work happens behind the scenes in schools, and members of the public may not be aware of the actions taken. So, today, I would like to highlight some additional points to make clear MOE’s approach in handling bullying and fighting incidents.

Let me first start by reiterating that any form of hurtful behaviour is not acceptable and has no place in our schools. However, I would also point out that when any incident of fighting or bullying is shared online, for example, via a social media post or a video, usually a one-sided story is presented, from a particular perspective. While we would hope that members of the public can remember that what they see or read online may not present the full facts of the case, people often react emotively to what they see online and form quick judgments on what happened, or who was in the right or wrong in that incident. Hence, let me put forth what MOE and schools do when handling such incidents.

When an incident is reported, the school will conduct thorough investigations to understand the facts before deciding on the appropriate course of action – which could include both disciplinary and rehabilitative actions. If a Police report is filed, the school will also assist the Police in their investigations, including supporting their staff and students who may be called up for questioning. For serious cases, perpetrators will face legal consequences in accordance with the law.

MOE and schools would prefer to handle each case sensitively to provide space and privacy for the students involved to learn from their mistakes and grow from the experience. However, if a case is made public online and the information provided is unduly skewed such that it causes public concern, damages the reputation of other parties, and/or seek to promote one’s side of the story even though the accuser may not be totally innocent, MOE may have to put out the facts of the case to provide a balanced view of the entire incident, including the actions of all who were involved, based on the school’s investigations. This is to be fair to our educators and all parties involved.

MOE may also put out information on the actions taken against all parties who share responsibility for the incident – the initiator who started the fight, and others who retaliated or joined in subsequently. Bystanders and those who recorded the incident and shared the recordings online will also be called out, counselled and punished if necessary. This is to remind them not to do so, to avoid further hurting the ones who are involved and to highlight to them that by sharing the recordings, they are endorsing the acts and are complicit to the act. This will also mitigate the impulse to normalise or chase the extremes in the contest to circulate ever more startling videos and content.

While firm actions will be taken to address the parties involved in each incident, the school will also use the opportunity as a teaching moment for all its students.

Mr Speaker and Members, this is also a teaching moment for us and the whole of our community. We cannot form good conclusions from a video snippet. So, I thank you for your concern for our students. Let us work together to protect schools as a safe space for our children to learn from their mistakes to change and to grow.

10.31 am

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question Time. Introduction of Government Bills.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]