John Tan from SDP feels that caning and expulsion of one student is ridiculous and does more harm than good.
Are there any educators from senior management in the SDP at all? Please step forward and help your party not look like a fool. These comments by John Tan shows how disconnected they are from the ground on how school policies help our students, even the ill disciplined ones.
1. He got to ask himself. Why is it that only ONE out of all the students involved? He claims expelling the student does more harm than good.
Here is the reason why students are expelled. Students who are expelled, usually have done something serious. Expelling the student gives him a second chance in a new school. Where the students and teachers do not look at him differently, and he can start on a clean slate. The reasons for transfer, for these cases, are kept to a very small group of staff, usually the P, VP and Discipline Head.
Can you imagine how the boy will go through his secondary school life every time he passes by a female teacher if he stayed? Can you imagine how the teachers would feel if they were assigned to teach in his class?
I am guessing he is the only one expelled because he is the one that distributed the photos most. While the rest played much smaller roles.
2. John Tan claims expelling the student means breaking of the Compulsory Education Act.
Again no one from SDP can help him understand. When it comes to expelling a student, Ps usually try to help them find a new school. Sometimes this involves "trading" problem students. So that both students get fresh starts. Otherwise, they may call upon their colleagues in the cluster schools to keep a lookout for the "expelled" student, so that they can make arrangements to accept the student when he turns up at their door.
3. On Caning.
Caning is not so much to cause pain to the students. But rather to show to the student body the seriousness of it.
Caning is not so much to cause pain to the students. But rather to show to the student body the seriousness of it.
Unless they are being caned in prison, caning in schools do not cause that much pain that cannot be rubbed off in a few hours.
Students also go through a lot of counselling before being caned. I have sat through quite a few caning sessions previously. By the time they are caned, the students usually understand their mistakes, and are willing to accept the punishment.
So SDP, please please, just like your white paper on Education. Instead of just painting gloomy clouds over our education system and policies, how about you offer some substantial solutions after you make your points.
Come up with a solution that takes care of all stakeholders. The School Leaders, the teachers involved, the students involved, the parents of the students involved. Show us how you guys would DO BETTER if you were in charge, and maybe you might just win some votes in the next Elections.
