Lack of discipline

It may sound like a storm in a teacup, but the case of a school principal resigning after hitting a female student with a soft-cover book has had all of Singapore talking. Should he have done it? Should he have quit?

Are we too soft on our children? Isn't caning in school allowed anyway and what is all this fuss about?

It is paradoxical that the city-state is known the world over for its strict disciplinarian attitude, when the reality that is emerging from this incident is that some students are running amok in schools, and that while caning is still allowed, it is only in exceptional cases and under very strict guidelines (and only reserved for boys).

After the principal of Nan Chiau High resigned, many parents came to his defence, saying that the punishment for his mistake was too strong and that he should have just been reprimanded or suspended for a few days. He had lost his temper, but the girl had a history of discipline problems for truancy, lateness and being disruptive in class. That said, while he may no longer be principal, he still has a job with the ministry.

A local newspaper asked Singaporeans whether they still believed in caning, and indeed seven in 10 of those surveyed favour corporal punishment. While opinion was evenly divided on whether the principal's action was right or wrong, an overwhelming 83 per cent thought he should not have given up a post he had held for seven years.

All this prompted the Minister of State for Education to explain that even if the veteran educator had not resigned, he would have had to go because he had lost his professional authority by hitting a student.