MOE to step up vigilance after misconduct by teachers
In light of cases of teacher misconduct, the ministry is doing more to ensure safety of students
One teacher got her student to buy her drugs.
Another molested his male student.
A third teacher committed indecent acts on his female student.
The latest case of a National Junior College teacher being sacked for sending his female students inappropriate text messages has again thrown the teaching profession into disrepute.
Referring to the drug case, where the teacher was fired, a Ministry of Education spokesman told The New Paper it will be working closely with schools to step up vigilance to ensure the safety of students.
The spokesman added that MOE was stringent in its selection process, which included various screening processes and a panel interview with experienced senior educators.
The spokesman added: "In the service, we continue to emphasise our high expectations of educators' conduct, through regular conversations within the teaching fraternity to share and reiterate the Code of Professional Conduct for Educators."
The code was rolled out in 2013 and provides guidelines for teachers, including rules regarding personal relationships with students.
To safeguard the well-being of our students, MOE is working closely with schools to step up vigilance.Ministry of Education spokesman
The MOE spokesman said: "We take a serious view of every case where staff fall short of expected standards. To safeguard the well-being of our students, MOE is working closely with schools to step up vigilance."
MOE declined to elaborate on the details.
In the drug case, Ms Celesta Ee Qiying, a staff member of Meridian Secondary School, told her student, Khairul Naim Mohamad Nasir, now 20, about her methamphetamine consumption in 2016.
He offered to help her find a cheaper drug supplier, and Ms Ee gave him $200 to buy methamphetamine.
CAUGHT
Khairul was caught on Aug 29 last year during a spot check by Central Narcotics Bureau officers.
Last week, he was sentenced to probation of two years and three months after pleading guilty in January to one count each of methamphetamine trafficking and cannabis consumption.
The MOE spokesman told TNP the school was informed about the incident when Khairul was arrested.
The MOE spokesman said: "Once MOE was informed of the investigation, we suspended Ms Celesta Ee from duty in September 2017 so that she had no contact with the school. She has since been dismissed from service."
Teachers in trouble
At least five court cases involving misconduct by teachers have been reported this year.
JUNE 25
A secondary school teacher who used two counterfeit $100 notes to pay for massage services at Orchard Towers was jailed three years after losing his appeal. In July 2015, Daniel Wong Mun Meng, 44 photocopied a $100 note. He paid Ms Nguyen Nhu Trang with the fake notes for her "services".
JULY 13
A physics teacher was jailed for a year and four months after he got intimate with a 15-year-old student. In September 2016, the man was hugging and kissing the girl , before a police officer spotted them at East Coast Park and informed the girl's parents. They reported the incident.
JULY 16
A district court heard that a male teacher, now 38, squeezed the right side of a 13-year-old boy's chest and told him he resembled a Japanese pornographic comic character in February 2016. The man also touched the boy's groin and buttock. The teacher, out on bail, will be back in court on Aug 14.
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