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SINGAPORE – Caning as a disciplinary measure is used only “if all other measures are inadequate”, and schools follow strict protocols to ensure safety for students, said Education Minister Desmond Lee in Parliament on May 5.
Caning must be approved by the principal and carried out only by authorised teachers, Mr Lee said in response to several MPs, including Mr Alex Yeo (Potong Pasir), Dr Charlene Chen (Tampines GRC) and Mr Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC), who raised questions about the use of caning to address bullying.
Schools will also consider factors such as the student’s maturity and whether caning would help him learn from his mistake, said Mr Lee.
The minister noted that studies have linked frequent, unregulated corporal punishment in home settings to negative outcomes, but the school context is fundamentally different. He added that caning as a punishment is not new, and is part of a framework of disciplinary measures that provides “certainty of consequences”.
“If it is used, it is never administered in isolation but always as part of a suite of restorative and disciplinary measures,” he said.
“Schools will monitor the student’s well-being and progress after caning and counsel the student to reflect and learn while supporting the student’s rehabilitation,” Mr Lee said.
“This approach is based on research which shows that children and youth learn to make better choices when there are clear boundaries enforced by firm, meaningful consequences,” he said, adding that this has a “positive impact” on reducing bullying and helps the school community feel safe, learning in an orderly environment.
Overall, MPs on both sides of the House filed a total of 43 written and oral questions on bullying, following new anti-bullying measures released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on April 15.
To allow MPs’ questions on bullying to be answered, Deputy Leader of the House Zaqy Mohamad requested more time for questions. The time was extended by about 15 minutes. Mr Lee spent a total of 50 minutes addressing queries on the topic.
Apart from questioning the effectiveness of caning in reducing repeat offences and its long-term impact on mental health, MPs also sought transparency on how measures will be standardised across schools and the research underpinning them.
They also raised concerns about safeguards for students with special needs, and how punitive measures reconcile with the MOE’s goal of a restorative school culture.
The ministry’s anti-bullying recommendations, which followed a year-long review involving 2,000 stakeholders, include standardised disciplinary guidelines across all schools, which include detention or suspension, caning, and conduct grade adjustments, as well as a new reporting channel, faster communication with parents, and funding to hire additional manpower for schools that need it.
To ensure consistency, Mr Lee told the House that all schools will be required to develop their own anti-bullying policies by the end of 2026 based on the new MOE guidelines.
Addressing questions from Mr Patrick Tay (Pioneer), Mr Yeo, and Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio GRC) about why caning is meted out for boys, Mr Lee said the practice aligns with the established legal framework under the Education (Schools) Regulations.
Citing the Criminal Procedure Code, which states that women should not be punished with caning, he said: “Nonetheless, this does not mean that girls who bully or engage in hurtful behaviour are less culpable.”
He noted that while girls are not caned, they face a tiered disciplinary approach – including detention, suspension, and conduct grade adjustments – to ensure consequences remain proportionate to the severity of the offence.
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 had 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 that 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 the implementation of these processes, he added.
Mr Lee also said that 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 together 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, accessible, and familiar for them to use, and schools will be guided on how to manage reports through the different channels, he added. 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 a 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.”
MPs Sylvia Lim (Aljunied GRC) and Mr Yeo had raised questions on online incidents like artificial intelligence (AI)-generated obscene images of students and other cyber-bullying 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, doxxing 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 cyber abuse involving an adult, Mr Lee said he believes the OSC 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 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 (Sengkang GRC) who asked how the MOE ensures students’ vulnerabilities are properly assessed before serious discipline like caning is administered, Mr Lee said that 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 including 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.