National Junior College (NJC) coach, a student at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), was terminated after admitting that he had sent inappropriate messages to female students.
As reported the accused committed those offences from April to June this year. He also admitted that he asked one of his female students to meet him in his hostel room. The 17-year-old victim had shared those messages that were sent via social media platform Instagram.
Those text messages have revealed that the physical education teacher had asked the female student to go into his heart and meet him in his "comfortable room" to play a few games. In another message the accused called her as an angle and asked the girl to study together.
Even though these messages made the student a little bit uncomfortable, still she met the coach in the hostel room along with her friends. The boyfriend of the girl, who is the full-time national serviceman, said that the man had joined NJC earlier this year. He also mentioned that when he if he thought what he did was professional, as a reply the accused said to just trust his girlfriend more.
But, when the unnamed girl and her boyfriend complained to the vice-principal the man took that case very casually and the authority also closed the case without taking action against him. The boyfriend later said that the school told his girlfriend to trust her teacher's professionalism. On the other hand, NJC refused such claims and stated that they were also investigating the case.
Later, a spokesperson from the NJC stated that the vice-principal was alerted by the student's parent about the incident of sending inappropriate messages to that girl and immediately they started their investigation. The spokesperson also added that the accused teacher admitted the offence and authority also terminated him.
In further addition, the reports stated that when the Ministry of Education (MOE) was asked about this incident, a spokesperson said that MOE takes a very serious view of every case where not only staffs but also the relief teachers fall short of expected standards.
Other coaches commented on this case and said that calling students or athletes at their residences to meet, doesn't look normal. A 33-year-old communication skills coach at Catalyst Empowerment Academy, Gary Guwe said that there should be a line between a student and teacher that should not be crossed no matter what.
Another coach, who would like to address him as Zhang also said that such practices are inappropriate. In addition, he told about the guideline that coaches should follow to protect the athletes and themselves.
The register coaches with Sport Singapore (SportSG) have to go through these guidelines that include rules on the safety of children. This year in May, Richard Seow, the chairman of SportSG said that in recent months many stories on sexual misconduct and harassment within the sporting fraternity have come out and such incidents have violated the value of sports. He also added that there is a requirement of a particular goal to establish a safer, more positive environment for Singapore's current and future athletes.
