Prevalence of Hazing and Bullying Incidents in Schools

15 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Education (a) how prevalent are incidents of hazing and bullying in the schools in the past year compared to a year ago; (b) whether the Ministry is aware that such incidents are shared by students on social media platforms; and (c) whether a student's character is one of the criteria used in selecting his/her suitability for a leadership role in school camping activities.

The Minister of State for Education (Ms Sun Xueling) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Education (MOE) takes a serious view of bullying and hazing, and works with schools to send a clear message to all students that hurtful behaviour has no place in our schools. The number of bullying incidents reported in 2019 was about two incidents per 1,000 primary students and five incidents per 1,000 secondary students. These remained the same in 2020.

Schools monitor the cyber environment to the best of their abilities, taking both educative, preventive and intervention measures to address any bullying incidents. Schools educate students to be kind and responsible. When schools come across incidents of hurtful behaviour online, they take immediate action to investigate the incident, carry out appropriate disciplinary actions and provide counselling support for the students involved. Peer support leaders also help to keep online spaces safe and positive and alert teachers when needed. All students are taught the safe channels to report serious incidents, inappropriate practices or hurtful behaviours.

Character is a key consideration in the selection process of student leaders and other student helpers for camps. Camp activities are supervised by teachers, and student leaders and helpers are removed from their leadership positions and disciplined if there is wrongdoing. They will also be guided to learn from their mistakes.

Mr Speaker: Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mr Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister of State for answering the question. I have one supplementary question. I am happy to see that the trend has not increased, as the Minister of State has mentioned. But every single bullying or hazing incident is one too many, especially for schools and where kids are involved. My simple question is: what action has MOE taken against those involved in these incidents and will more mitigation measures be taken to reduce and address this issue and, hopefully, reduce the numbers, going forward?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for the supplementary question. Indeed, every bullying incident is one too many. When there are reported incidents, the disciplinary committee teachers will conduct a disciplinary inquiry. They will pair disciplinary measures with counselling, if necessary, and, if there is a need for disciplinary action, they can take a range of penalties, for instance, from corrective work orders to suspension and, if the student perpetrator is a source of threat and danger to other students, they can consider expulsion, if necessary.

Mr Speaker: Dr Shahira Abdullah.

Dr Shahira Abdullah (Nominated Member): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have one supplementary question. In light of the recent Ngee Ann Polytechnic case in which male students were urinated on and which a male student came out to say that it was just mindless fun and it was something consensual, would MOE consider teaching consent to youths at a younger age so that they can be better protected from bullying as well?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for her question. There is no place for degrading behaviour in our schools and IHLs, even if the students were to find it fun. I think this is not something that we encourage.

The schools emphasise Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) and we are rolling this out starting from Primary schools to Secondary schools and our IHLs. During CCE, our students are taught the values of respect, about care, empathy. They are also taught to recognise boundaries, how to manage personal boundaries and, when their actions overstep them, they are reminded that, should such behaviours be displayed, there can be disciplinary and even legal consequences, if such cases are reported to the Police.