*photo for illustrative purposes only
Witcast received a tip-off in regard to the treatment received from a student in a Primary school located in the Northeast area.
Here are the details sent in by a concerned parent.
If you are considering to put your child in neighborhood school at Punggol, please DO NOT consider E******* PRIMARY SCHOOL.
They are so bo-liao(Witcast - "Bo-liao" is a Singlish word that meant they got nothing better to do) to the extend that they ask my boy to undress himself everyday and check for cane marks. MOE guidelines now is no caning/ beating only can scold. I have checked with my other friends, they said their school wont be so bo-liao to check for cane marks.
2 days ago when i wanted to beat/ cane my son, he siam (Witcast - "Siam" is a Singlish word that meant getting out of the way) and accidentally hit the Marble table and gotten a bruise on his cheek area. I rubbed the bruise for him immediately when he had that knock. And the bruise became more obvious. Which parents would not feel pain when they beat/ cane or see their child getting injured?
The school teacher and counselor were ridiculous! They assumed that my son was badly injured and needed immediate medical attention. Ask me to bring him for medical check up. I didn't bring him as it was a busy day for me.
Usually my son will reach home by 2pm as he finishes school at 1.30pm. School didn't called up to inform that they need to bring my son for medical check up. Until about 2.30pm, i called up and the counselor said my son is with her and she is bring him for a medical check up. Never mention what time he will be done and also never mention where he is going for the check up. How can they detained my son without even informing me making me worried and waiting at home?!
At 4pm, I received a call from a MCYS officer. The officer say my son is at KKH and he need to be hospitalize as they investigate. But I was being asked to school yesterday to clarify the bruise on his face. Everything was explained to them and they advised me not to cane/ beat my son in future. Ask me to throw away the cane. Yesterday, my son made me very angry. I cooled down and didn't cane/ beat him. Suddenly today they reported the case to MCYS today making so much trouble for me. (My friend says they wanna do this to gain credit and make people say tat this is a good school cos its a new school) . When I asked when can he be discharge. They say have to wait for further notice,
THIS IS JUST ONE BAD INCIDENT I HAD WITH THIS SCHOOL...
So, Witcast did a simple QnA with this concern parent and this was the conversation.
Witcast : So Mr xxx (Witcast didn't published his name for sensitivity issues), what do you think were the reasons behind this?
Mr xxx : They said that every school does that, cause it's MOE guidelines, parents are not supposed to beat/cane their child... only can scold. But my friend who send her son to another school says she questioned the principal, if cant cane then how to teach them? The principal replied they are able to cane but cane at places that cannot be seen. Which mean places that are covered up.
WC:Canning at places that can't be seen? Isn't that worst?
Mr xxx : Usually I cane my son's palm... If he siam then bo bian kena other places by accident. If unlucky and kena other places that can be seen counselor will call us up again.
(Bo bian - Singlish word that meant no choice. Kena is another Singlish word that meant something had happened)
Witcast: You mentioned undress, you are aware that you can lodge a complaint with the MOE right?
Mr xxx: Yes, my son told me that they asked my son to undress himself... i'm going to do so cos they are not supposed to do that.
Witcast: Not sure what they will eventually do to your son if they know you had sent a complaint to MOE though. I would advise that you arrange for a meet up with the School's Principal to have a chat in regard to this situation. It might clear up some air.
Mr xxx: The Principal and the VP would not be a good choice. I spoke to the VP the other day, listening to the counselor side of the story and believe that my son was being abused by me. Yesterday when they spoke to me that didn't talk about bring the matter to MCYS. I think they did this today out of purpose as yesterday they asked me to bring my son to the doctor and i didnt bring and they brought the matter up to MCYS. And the counselor still warn me saying i will be either charged or fined and my son will be taken away.
WC: So i understand you will not be going to approach the Principal or the VP, is there any actions you will be taking against the sch?
Mr xxx : Hopefully MOE or the MP take action against this school.
(MP - Member of Parliment)
WC: I see, thank you for sharing your story with us and we are deeply sorry for what you and your family is going through, is there any other things you wish to say?
Mr xxx: I just don't like the way the school deal with things. My son is under the FAS (Financial Assistant School Scheme). The teachers looked down on him. Just bo chap him in class.
(Bo chap - can't be bothered)
The teacher knows my son has such problem of not handing up his school work and had been seeing the school counselor,
They said they will check his bag as and when there is a need to hand up the home work. End up home work wasn't hand up and the teacher will blame my son and says that he is irresponsible. If wants someone to change their bad habit also need time right?
Witcast : Yes, we agree. It seemed to us that there is some form of bias behavior going on here. Mr xxx, all the best to your appeal.
Witcast would like to clarify that we are not in the position to take sides. The above story were contributed by 1 of our readers. If this indeed happened to our Primary School, MOE might need to do a thorough investigation.