Is Corporal Punishment the Answer to School Violence?... Singapore Formalizes Teacher Caning for Boys Aged 9 and Older

"If Misconduct Is Severe, Corporal Punishment Will Be Applied"
"Principal's Approval Required Before Corporal Punishment"

Singapore has decided to introduce new disciplinary guidelines that include corporal punishment of up to three strokes for students who commit serious misconduct, such as school violence.

According to the Guardian and other sources on May 6 (local time), Singapore’s Minister for Education, Desmond Lee, recently stated in parliament, "Corporal punishment will only be applied when the student's misconduct is severe and all other measures have proven insufficient."

He explained, "Strict procedures are followed to ensure the safety of students," adding, "Corporal punishment must be approved by the principal and can only be administered by authorized teachers." He further stated, "Schools will make decisions by comprehensively considering the student's maturity and whether corporal punishment will help the student understand the seriousness and nature of their wrongdoing."

This measure was established after a year-long review by the Singapore Ministry of Education, focusing on the issue of school violence. The need for stronger measures arose after several school violence incidents last year sparked social controversy.

According to the new guidelines, if serious misconduct such as bullying, theft, smoking, or truancy is detected for the first time, punishment may include one stroke with a cane and a suspension of one to three days. If the same behavior is repeated, corporal punishment may increase to up to two strokes, and suspension may be extended to three to five days. If the misconduct is discovered three or more times, the punishment can be up to three strokes and a suspension of up to 14 days.

For serious matters such as assault, severe bullying, or drug abuse, even first-time offenders will receive stricter disciplinary actions. In these cases, corporal punishment may be administered along with a longer suspension of three to five days.

However, corporal punishment at school is only applied to male students in upper elementary grades who are at least nine years old. Under current law, Singapore prohibits caning females, so school corporal punishment is limited to male students. Female students are excluded from corporal punishment but may receive graduated disciplinary measures such as after-school detention, suspension, or adjustments to conduct grades depending on the severity of their misconduct.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted in a report released last year that corporal punishment is still "surprisingly widespread" globally. The WHO stated that corporal punishment can have serious negative effects on children's health and development and estimated that approximately 1.2 billion children aged 0 to 18 experience corporal punishment at home worldwide each year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.