A teacher has all the rights to teach a child but parents don't accept any kind of brutal behaviour at all. Something like that happened to a 12-year-old boy, whose mother filed a police complaint against a primary school after she discovered six welts on her son's arms and legs.
Claire Chee, 48, the mother of the boy found those marks on Tuesday, September 3. While filing the police complaint, she mentioned that her son's primary school had caned the child without first informing her or her husband, even though as per schoolbag.sg, a Ministry of Education (MOE) website, informing parents is mandatory before punishing a pupil.
Under the Education (Schools) Regulations, a school principal or someone who was given the authority can carry out such corporal punishment. Rules also state that a principal or that authorized person must use a light cane to punish pupils on palms or on the buttocks over the clothing. Such punishment is also expected to be carried out in private and counselling, as well as follow-up guidance is also required in these cases.
Chee and her husband went to the school after they received a call from the authority who told them that their son got involved in a fight inside the school premises. They talked to a teacher and the discipline master, but none of them told the parents about the caning.
But when they were about to take their son home, Chee and her husband found the welts on his arms and legs. Later, when she asked the discipline master about the marks, the teacher insisted that she "merely tapped the boys to warn them".
She was surprised that a school teacher carried out such punishment without informing the parents, who had no idea and mental preparation about that matter.
Even though it has been more than two-three days since the caning incident, as per the reports the welts on her son were still visible with three cane marks on his right arm, two on his left and one on the back of his leg.
Chee's son, who will be taking his Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) in about a month, is currently in shock and would cry when she tries to get him to school.
The police said that they were alerted to a case of "voluntarily causing hurt" in Lorong Chuan on Tuesday at 11 am and they took a rattan cane, measuring about a metre long, as evidence.
