Schools use caning if other measures inadequate: Desmond Lee

The workload for teachers may also increase in the short term, said Mr Lee, as schools roll out the recommendations progressively and make adjustments.

Apart from providing additional funding, MOE is developing an offence management system to support case investigation, documentation and monitoring, he added.

“As processes and norms become clearer, workload ought to stabilise,” Mr Lee said.

MPs also asked about specific guidelines for student transfers and restorative justice, safeguards to protect students’ mental health and those with special needs, and the management of cyberbullying.

Acknowledging that more consistent management of bullying across schools is important, Mr Lee said MOE has provided schools with clearer guidelines on establishing offence management processes and disciplinary measures.

Cluster superintendents, who oversee a group of schools, will provide further guidance and support to schools on implementing these processes, he added.

Mr Lee also said schools will maintain “timely communication” with parents, even as time is needed to look into incidents and establish facts.

If a student chooses to confide in family or friends rather than school staff, Mr Lee said parents should inform the school and work with the school to support the child.

Parents who may have concerns regarding the management of a specific incident should engage the school directly, he said.

All schools will each have an online reporting platform for students and parents from 2027, said Mr Lee.

This will supplement existing channels, including reporting directly to teachers or school leaders.

The online platform will be age-appropriate for the students to use, accessible and familiar, and schools will be guided on how to manage reports through the different channels. Urgent cases should still be reported to teachers and school leaders for prompt action.

With more reporting channels and greater awareness of bullying, one could “well expect” more reported cases, said Mr Lee, responding to Mr Xie Yao Quan (Jurong Central), who asked if MOE foresees an increase in cases and whether reducing the rate of bullying would be a meaningful measure of effectiveness.

“(The rate of bullying) is something that we want to watch, but it requires not just downstream intervention and measures, but a lot of the work has to be upstream,” Mr Lee said. “It has to be about culture building… the child and his understanding of how to relate to one another.”

Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied GRC) and Mr Yeo raised questions on online incidents like artificial intelligence-generated obscene images of students and other cyberbullying content.

In response, Mr Lee said MOE will continue to guide schools in fact-finding processes and supporting students in reporting online harms.

Students can also report incidents of online harassment, doxing and intimate image abuse to the Online Safety Commission (OSC) once it becomes operational by end-June.

In response to Mr Yeo’s question on how the OSC will distinguish between cyberbullying targeting a child and cyberabuse involving an adult, Mr Lee said he believes the commission will take a “child-centred approach” in assessing such incidents.

Mr Lee, in response to Ms Lim, said the number of incidents of students creating and circulating AI-generated obscene images remains “small”, and the ministry is “keeping a very close eye on it”.

The ministry will work with families and students to support victims, but work with authorities like the OSC to have these images taken down, he added. 

“It’s not an easy task, because there could be proliferation around different platforms,” Mr Lee said, adding that if perpetrators are not known, the ministry will work with the authorities. 

Mr Chua asked how MOE manages students with special needs when meting out disciplinary measures, and the follow-up protocols for victims of bullying who have special needs or mental health issues. 

Mr Lee said schools will address immediate safety concerns, and trained school personnel will look for signs of distress and provide support. 

For students with special educational needs (SEN) or mental health conditions who have hurt others, Mr Lee said consequences are “educative, restorative and focused on helping the student learn the necessary skills to adopt appropriate behaviour”. 

Responding to Mr Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik (Sengkang GRC), who asked how MOE ensures students’ vulnerabilities are properly assessed before serious disciplinary measures like caning are administered, Mr Lee said schools will view each child holistically. 

This includes assessing whether they face special needs, mental health challenges, difficult home environments or peer pressure.

He added that this process is supported by a network that includes teachers, SEN officers and school counsellors to ensure proper oversight and that each case is dealt with appropriately on its merits. 

Striking a balance between ensuring consistency and discretion is a “perennial puzzle” that exists not just in schools but across society, he said.

“It’s always that balance between consistency and fairness, that principle, versus providing discretion, to ensure that discipline ultimately has education as its core goal,” Mr Lee said.