Desmond Lee
Singapore
“The Leadership, Enrichment, Achievement, Participation and Service (LEAPS) 2.0 is a framework for recognising student participation and achievement in secondary school co-curricular programmes.”
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) is mindful of the impact that rising temperatures may have on our students, teachers and officials taking part in the National School Games. Matches are scheduled only after students have had the time to train and become progressively more heat acclimatised.”
“As shared in Parliament in March 2026, the proportion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools has remained stable, at around 7% of the overall student population. This stability is observed across both primary and secondary schools.”
“The Ministry recruits and assesses applicants based on merit and suitability for the teaching profession, regardless of gender. We look for individuals with a passion for teaching, a belief in the potential of every child, and who possess the values and character to make a positive difference in students' lives.”
“Over the past five years, an average of 750 teachers resigned from the Education Service annually, representing a resignation rate of around 2%.”
“MOE has also progressively strengthened open access within the Primary 1 Registration Framework through Phase 2C, which is open to students regardless of whether they have prior connections to the school. MOE had increased the number of reserved Phase 2C places from zero to 20 in 2014; and from 20 to 40 in 2022.”
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“This question has been addressed as part of the oral reply to Parliamentary Question Nos 2 to 5 on 4 November 2025. [Please refer to "Addressing Teachers' Stress Levels and Supporting Their Mental Well-being", Official Report, 4 November 2025, Vol 96, Issue 9, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“Regular Home-Based Learning (HBL) Days are implemented only in secondary schools and pre-university institutions, where students are more independent and can conduct HBL without adult supervision. Primary schools conduct HBL very selectively, as they are mindful of the need for adult supervision for younger students and the impact on care arrangements. For students whose homes are not conducive to HBL or who require adult supervision that is unavailable at home, schools remain open for them to carry out HBL in school with support from teachers. Schools would inform parents in advance of the HBL dates to allow parents sufficient time to make alternative care arrangements.”
“Our schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) use a variety of strategies to detect vaping on campus. They have implemented detection protocols, including guidelines to recognise potential signs of etomidate abuse, and coordination with the Health Sciences Authority for swift testing of vapes suspected to contain etomidate. Some schools and IHLs have also trialled vape detection systems, but these were not scaled up due to issues with false positives. Our schools and IHLs will continue to look out for promising vape detection technologies and, where relevant, assess their effectiveness before considering wider deployment.”
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) runs a rigorous recruitment process to ensure that only suitable applicants with the desired values, qualities and competencies are selected to be educators. Shortlisted Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) applicants typically receive an interview invitation within three to four weeks of each application window closing. Those selected after the interview are then put through the proficiency tests (if applicable) and medical checks. Among the PGDE applicants who applied early this year and were selected after the interview, half of them received an offer within two to five months from the date of interview. About 7% of applicants who cleared the interview withdrew their applications before they received an offer. We acknowledge that the longer wait time after the interview may be a concern for applicants, and we remain in touch with them throughout the process. MOE is committed to maintaining a high-quality workforce of teachers. We will continue to streamline and improve our processes to increase our recruitment efficiency, so as to attract as many good candidates as possible.”
“Singapore participates in international surveys, such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), to benchmark against and learn from practices in other education systems. The survey findings are reviewed and complement other data sources that the Ministry of Education draws insights from to inform our policymaking and programme development.”
“Schools train about 5% of their students as Peer Support Leaders (PSLs). School staff use training resources from the Ministry of Education to teach PSLs strategies, such as active listening, responding with empathy, positive coping and encouraging help-seeking, in order to provide basic mental health peer support. In addition, school staff check in regularly with PSLs to share good practices and help address concerns that they may raise. There may be some differences in the training provided across schools, depending on the profile and needs of the students.”
“This question has been addressed in my response on the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024 findings and management of teachers' workload and well-being at the Parliamentary Sitting on 4 November 2025, which will be made available on the Ministry of Education's website. [Please refer to "Addressing Teachers' Stress Levels and Supporting Their Mental Well-being", Official Report, 4 November 2025, Vol 96, Issue 9, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“Between 2019 to 2024, 18 co-curricular activities (CCA) partnerships have been initiated by schools. All of these partnerships are still ongoing. While such partnerships incur higher costs and impose some inconveniences, such as increased travel time, students who participate in such multi-school CCAs reported positive experiences and developed CCA-specific skills. They also forge friendships with peers from other schools. Such CCA partnerships between schools are more sustainable when schools identify suitable partners based on their needs and profiles, and the partner schools find ways to overcome the coordination challenges involved. The Ministry of Education will continue to support schools which are keen to offer multi-school CCAs, along with other ways to promote social mixing between students of different profiles.”
“Our schools promote independence and a sense of community in students through a range of existing school programmes, such as Outdoor Adventure Learning camps and Co-Curricular Activities. We do not intend to involve students in food procurement, preparation or distribution in order to achieve these objectives.”
“From 2021 to 2024, the average PSLE Score for the six lowest-performing national primary schools has been stable at 22. The four madrasahs, which are designated schools under the Compulsory Education Act, are required to meet the PSLE benchmark, which is pegged at the average PSLE score of Malay pupils taking four Standard-level subjects in the six lowest-performing national primary schools. Since 2021, the four madrasahs have met the PSLE benchmark.”
“The Ministry of Education monitors the employment outcomes of courses offered by the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) through the annual Graduate Employment Survey, conducted by the IHLs six months after graduation. Fluctuations in the employment rates for courses across years are to be expected, and can be due to various factors, including labour market conditions, economic cycles and sector-specific trends. There is no degree or diploma course that consistently ranks among the lowest, in terms of full-time permanent employment rates and median salaries, six months post-graduation.”
“This question has been addressed as part of the oral reply to Parliamentary Question Nos 2 to 5 on 4 November 2025. [Please refer to "Addressing Teachers' Stress Levels and Supporting Their Mental Well-being", Official Report, 4 November 2025, Vol 96, Issue 9, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“Beginning Teachers (BTs) rate each professional development programme on content relevance, delivery quality and effectiveness in meeting learning needs. They also share direct feedback with the Ministry of Education (MOE) twice in their first three years of teaching – in their first year, through a survey on school support for BTs, and in their third year, through engagements where they share about their teaching experience, professional development and other needs. The data informs the review and refinement of professional development programmes for BTs. Schools review the effectiveness of mentoring through feedback gathered from mentors and mentees via focussed group discussions, surveys and mentoring logs. MOE supports each school with resources and guidance on data collation and analysis for the review, and refinement of school-based mentoring programmes.”
“Over the past five years, the most commonly cited reasons by teachers for resignation were family needs, such as caregiving and childcare, and to pursue other career interests.”
“This question has been addressed by written answer to Parliamentary Question No 40 taken on 14 October 2025. [Please refer to "Average Classroom Instruction Hours versus Total Working Hours for Teachers and Initiatives to Reduce Administrative Workload in Past Five Years", Official Report, 14 October 2025, Vol 96, Issue 7, Written Answers to Questions section.]”
“We also recognise that there is opportunity cost for working adults to pursue training, requiring them to set aside time from work, family or personal commitments. To support these individuals, we have lowered the barriers to learning by leveraging e-learning and introducing flexible training modalities, such as bite-sized modules and part-time programmes that are work-compatible. SSG has also stepped up efforts to enhance the MySkillsFuture portal to make it easier for users to navigate the course catalogue and search for courses based on their career goals, skills needs or interests. SSG will continue to enhance the MySkillsFuture user interface based on user feedback, including plans to better integrate the course search and course sign up with training providers. More details will be released later. We do not intend to extend the expiry of this one-off SkillsFuture Credit top-up. SSG will continue to guide learners to access training programmes that meet their needs, including those that target in-demand and emerging skills, such as in AI upskilling. Individuals with expiring credits can consider whether there are suitable courses or online training subscriptions that meet their learning and career needs.”
“I will take oral Parliamentary Question No 78 and written Parliamentary Question No 42 to 43 on today's Order Paper. My response will also cover the matters raised in the written Parliamentary Question scheduled for the earlier sitting on 4 November 2025 from Dr Charlene Chen. [Please refer to "Extending Expiry Date of Unused $500 SkillsFuture Credits", Official Report, 4 November 2025, Vol 96, Issue 9, Written Answers to Questions section.] I invite Members to seek clarifications as needed. The Government provided a one-off SkillsFuture Credit top-up of $500 to all eligible Singaporeans aged 25 and above in 2020. Unlike the Opening Credit of $500 given at age 25 and the Mid-Career Credit of $4,000 given at age 40 that do not expire, this top-up will expire by the end of 2025 after about five years of validity, as it was intended to nudge individuals to take timely upskilling action. As at end-September 2025, close to 800,000 Singaporeans, or about three in 10 eligible Singaporeans, have used their SkillsFuture Credit top-up. Mid-career workers aged 40 to 60 made up close to half of this group. Top areas of training include information and communications, food services, advertising and sales and marketing. About 10,000 individuals have used their SkillsFuture Credit for online training subscriptions by Udemy, EdX and Coursera that are offered through local training providers. There are various reasons why individuals choose not to use their SkillsFuture Credit top-up. Many could have attended training with employer sponsorship and did not have to tap on their SkillsFuture Credit to offset the out-of-pocket training fees. In 2024, about 241,000 individuals were sponsored by their employers to attend training supported by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).”
“For example, econometric studies have shown that Institute of Technical Education and polytechnic graduates who upgraded via Work-Study Programmes enjoyed wage premiums of around 6% to 11%, compared to those who transited straight into employment. To complement these indicators, SSG also requires all learners taking SSG-funded programmes to rate the course quality and perceived outcomes, for example, whether the course has helped them improve their work performance or take on enhanced responsibilities at work. These ratings are published on the MySkillsFuture portal to help individuals to make informed training decisions. We have no immediate plans to top up the SkillsFuture Credit, having just provided a significant top-up of $4,000 to mid-career Singaporeans last year. We will continue to monitor the training needs and calibrate our training support between broad-based and targeted measures, and between supporting individual-led versus employer-led training, to meet the diverse needs of individuals and employers.”
“My response to these two questions will also address the other oral Parliamentary Question filed by Mr Shawn Loh, which will be taken in a subsequent Sitting. SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) supports a wide range of programmes to meet the diverse needs of Singaporeans in lifelong learning and skills development, across different life stages. The broad-based SkillsFuture Credit of $500, given to Singaporeans at age 25, is intended to foster a lifelong learning culture and encourage individuals to take ownership of their own learning and skills development. It can be used to offset the out-of-pocket fees for a wide variety of courses ranging from placement-related programmes and shorter skills-based courses that can enhance one's employability to those that cater to individuals' personal learning interests. Even though the programmes might not be directly related to their current areas of employment or lead directly to employment outcomes, they can help individuals to cultivate an interest and take the first step towards lifelong learning. Beyond the broad-based SkillsFuture Credit, SSG also provides more targeted SkillsFuture Credit top-ups, such as the recent $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up under the SkillsFuture Level Up Programme. This targets mid-careerists aged 40 and above and can only be used for curated courses with stronger employment objectives. In addition, SSG offers other targeted training support, including course fee subsidies of up to 90% for industry-relevant programmes with good manpower outcomes, as well as incentives for place-and-train Work Study Programmes co-delivered by the Institutes of Higher Learning and employers. Where appropriate, we look at employment and wage outcomes to evaluate training impact.”
“All schools start no earlier than 7.30 am. The Ministry of Education (MOE) also generally deploys teachers to schools that are located within one hour of travel by public transport from their homes. Teachers can request for a change in posting to schools nearer to their homes. MOE will support a change, where possible. All schools have the autonomy to implement flexible work arrangements, where operationally feasible. These include allowing teachers to report for work slightly later, if they have no lesson or duty at the start of the school day. Where teachers face persistent challenges to report to work on time, we will further review how best to support them.”
“International benchmarking studies, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for students aged 15, have consistently found that our students perform well in 21st Century Competencies relative to their international peers, such as in areas like collaborative problem-solving, global competence and creative thinking. As our students progress to Institutes of Higher Learning, they continue to build upon this foundation and develop skills that will serve them well in work and adulthood. We do not have plans to conduct longitudinal studies to track if strong performance in PISA Creative Thinking domain leads specifically to future innovations or creative breakthroughs, as these depend on many other factors beyond one's creative thinking ability at the age of 15.”
“The Ministry of Education provides centralised support to all schools so that they can access artificial intelligence (AI) tools and digital teaching support in a meaningful way. All schools are supported with funding for the necessary digital learning infrastructure, such as wireless networks, resourcing of computing devices and the necessary software for staff and students. Students have access to the Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS), the national online learning platform which provides students with curriculum-aligned resources from primary to pre-university level. They also have access to AI-enabled features in SLS, such as Speech Evaluation Tool, Learning Feedback Assistants and an Adaptive Learning System, to support their learning in a safe and customised manner.”
“This question has been addressed in my response on the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024 findings and management of teachers' workload and well-being at the Parliamentary Sitting on 4 November 2025, which will be made available on the Ministry of Education's (MOE's) website. [Please refer to "Addressing Teachers' Stress Levels and Supporting Their Mental Well-being", Official Report, 4 November 2025, Vol 96, Issue 9, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“We also recognise that there is opportunity cost for working adults to pursue training, requiring them to set aside time from work, family or personal commitments. To support these individuals, we have lowered the barriers to learning by leveraging e-learning and introducing flexible training modalities, such as bite-sized modules and part-time programmes, that are work-compatible. SSG has also stepped-up efforts to enhance the MySkillsFuture portal to make it easier for users to navigate the course catalogue and search for courses based on their career goals, skills needs or interests. SSG will continue to enhance the MySkillsFuture user interface based on user feedback, including plans to better integrate the course search and course sign up with training providers. More details will be released later. We do not intend to extend the expiry of this one-off SkillsFuture Credit top-up. SSG will continue to guide learners to access training programmes that meet their needs, including those that target in-demand and emerging skills, such as in artificial intelligence upskilling. Individuals with expiring credits can consider whether there are suitable courses or online training subscriptions that meet their learning and career needs.”
“I will take oral Parliamentary Question (PQ) No 78 and written PQ No 42 to 43 on today's Order Paper. My response will also cover the matters raised in the written PQ scheduled for the earlier sitting on 4 November 2025 from Dr Charlene Chen. [Please refer to "Extending Expiry Date of Unused $500 SkillsFuture Credits", Official Report, 4 November 2025, Vol 96, Issue 9, Written Answers to Questions section.] I invite Members to seek clarifications as needed. The Government provided a one-off SkillsFuture Credit top-up of $500 to all eligible Singaporeans aged 25 and above in 2020. Unlike the Opening Credit of $500 given at age 25 and the Mid-Career Credit of $4,000 given at age 40 that do not expire, this top-up will expire by the end of 2025 after about five years of validity, as it was intended to nudge individuals to take timely upskilling action. As at end-September 2025, close to 800,000 Singaporeans, or about three in 10 eligible Singaporeans, have used their SkillsFuture Credit top-up. Mid-career workers aged 40 to 60 made up close to half of this group. Top areas of training include information and communications, food services, advertising and sales and marketing. About 10,000 individuals have used their SkillsFuture Credit for online training subscriptions by Udemy, EdX and Coursera that are offered through local training providers. There are various reasons why individuals choose not to use their SkillsFuture Credit top-up. Many could have attended training with employer sponsorship and did not have to tap on their SkillsFuture Credit to offset the out-of-pocket training fees. In 2024, about 241,000 individuals were sponsored by their employers to attend training supported by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).”
“Similar to students around the world, students in Singapore from higher socio-economic backgrounds tend to perform better academically, including at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). However, this correlation has remained stable over the last five years. More importantly, our students from lower socio-economic backgrounds excel by international standards. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD's) Programme for International Student Assessment 2022 findings, students from the bottom-25% socio-economic status homes in Singapore outperformed the average OECD student across all domains of reading, mathematics, science and creative thinking. We remain committed to uplift our students, through enhancing preschool accessibility, affordability and quality, providing targeted support to students with higher needs and collaborating with community partners to provide wraparound support. This whole-of-society approach ensures every child can reach their potential regardless of background.”
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) sets minimum eligibility criteria for applications to our autonomous universities (AUs). Beyond this, each AU decides on its own admissions metrics and programme requirements. While MOE does not prescribe the scores required for admission to programmes at AUs, we closely track the outcomes of AU graduates, including by programme.”
“In designing the curriculum for Character and Citizenship Education (CCE), broad learning outcomes for each educational level are identified based on age-appropriate indicators of moral and social-emotional development. CCE currently comprises six content areas, namely, mental health education, national education, family education, cyber wellness, education and career guidance and sexuality education. CCE is enacted through classroom lessons as well as out-of-classroom activities, like Co-Curricular Activities, Values in Action initiatives and cohort camps. For CCE lessons, developmentally appropriate topics, based on the content areas, are chosen to provide authentic and relevant contexts for students to learn and demonstrate sound values, social-emotional competencies and citizenship dispositions. The Ministry of Education (MOE) conducts a full review of the CCE curriculum every six to eight years and may review sub-components in the intervening years. Curriculum reviews factor in broader trends in society as well as shifts in the needs of our students. MOE also consults educators, students, parents, academics as well as other experts and community partners, to ensure that our students are prepared for an increasingly complex and dynamic environment. Apart from the systemic reviews, lessons and resources are regularly updated. We will continue to improve the teaching and learning of CCE, ensuring that it stays responsive and relevant. We do not track expenditure by subjects, as the teaching and learning of a subject involves expenditure that can cut across departments and programmes.”
“The social service coordination centre and the use of technology – these should augment the work of the child protection network, but in and of itself will not be a silver bullet. We hope that with some technology, with coordination we can better focus on at-risk cases. Because the workload is high, we encourage people to report and officers will be under strain to deal with many more cases that are surfaced, some of which would be false positives. And that is the way it is designed so that we take a look and dive a bit deeper. But being able to connect some of these dots across multiple agencies and organisations will enable the system as a whole to be able to sense make better. Sometimes, in its discrete self, a piece of information may not cause a flag to go up, but when you are able to better connect the dots, you might feel that, well, this is one which crosses the threshold; better go in and take a look. How to measure the success of these tools? I would say, let us look at the overall cohesiveness of the sector, the ability to coordinate the work more effectively, the ability to identify earlier high-risk cases and to intervene. It is early days yet. As we consult with the sector, as we engage with them, as we work with them, we will better be able to unpack what capabilities we specifically seek to achieve.”
“Mr Speaker, I will respond briefly for the social sector and the Minister of State will respond for the Police. I thank him for his care and consideration for our frontline officers. It is difficult work. And the best way to support them is to affirm their work, know that while there were lapses and mistakes, we will continue to close the gap, learn from them and resolve collectively as a sector to do better. And that collective responsibility that Member Xie Yao Quan spoke about is important, even as we retain trust of members of the public through transparency and accountability. Other forms of support involve making sure that their well-being is taken care of, giving them respite, support, taking care of their mental well-being, training them well and effectively, putting in place standard operating procedures and protocols, both within the organisation and externally; supervision, support and mentorship so that they continue to do their work well.”
“Sir, I said in my main reply that we had expanded the number of child protection officers as well as Protective Service officers. The workload is high. It has come down. We have brought in auxiliary support services – not just increasing manpower, but brought in additional services to help transform and improve the way in which our Protective Service officers work. And I have said earlier that we will continue to expand.”
“And the work of the National Council of Social Service and the Ministry continues on this front to ensure that we have a steady pipeline.”
“I thank the Member for his questions. I think the first question it was in my main reply as well as in my supplementary question reply to Member Jackson Lam in terms of looking back and reaching out to organisations to surface cases that may be of concern. If he is asking about past child deaths, each time there is a child death, there is a review and actions taken to close the gaps, tighten the processes. The second question he asked is about specialisation and the Protective Service. It is now a unified Protective Service, but there are officers who specialise in certain kinds of communities – whether it is children, seniors and so on. But it is a service as a whole and there is a benefit in common protocols even as we seek to specialise in certain areas. And the third is about strengthening the social work profession as a whole. For protective work, as I said earlier, there is a real risk of burnout so lots of measures need to put in place, including care for the officers, time away from the frontlines, mental health support and constant training and refreshment so that we upskill and continue to be encouraged to continue this challenging work. The Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) which recently launched its Social Work and Social Development Faculty has a specific concentration or specialisation in their undergraduate course on "Protection". So, we want to work with SUSS and our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to continue to train caring Singaporeans who want to come into this work of protecting vulnerable people. But as a whole, for the whole social sector, there continues to be a need for more social work professionals, social workers, caseworkers, counsellors and so on.”
“I can assure the Member that when a case involving a child enters the child protection case management agencies' ambit of work, they will put in their best efforts to engage both the child's biological parents for safety planning, where feasible – and I mentioned it earlier in response to Member Diana Pang's question, you may need one or the other parent to step in to part of the safety plan – especially if the parent is required to observe safeguards put in place, or is in a position to support the child's safety and well-being. For cases that are taken up by the Protective Service in MSF, it will contact and engage both parents and/or all caregivers to ensure the child's safety and well-being, regardless of their marital status.”
“All calls to the NAVH are automatically recorded, logged and transcribed. So, that is the first safeguard. And as I said earlier in my main response, it is not just within the child protection management agencies who are looking at the cases, they are progressively and expeditiously reaching out to community organisations and social service agencies that are not within the core child protection case management agency group to ask them to surface cases, and have another look.”
“As I said, the foundational principle is that parents are responsible for children and by far and away, parents do their best for the children. But when they face stressors or when they are grappling with issues, we need to provide help. So, upstream work, preventive work is key, not just early risk families, but also parents at large. We have a whole range of programmes, both in institutions, like in schools and preschools, in programmes like KidSTART and others, Triple P, and many others that seek to empower or provide useful information to parents in their caregiving of their children. So, that is available and will continue to work with partners to strengthen this.”
“I think the Member is right in that when there is an abuse case or suspected abuse case, often one of the contributing reasons could be caregiver burdens and stress, though there could be other triggers. I do not want to over-simplify things. And therefore, when they need help, we need to make sure that there is help available, both informal within the family, as well as in the community through social service organisations, community organisations and so on. But when a case is a high risk, a tier two, or for that matter, a tier one case where the child protection management agencies come in, there are a number of organisations involved and ultimately, there is a case lead for each of these cases, tier two, tier one, so that there is consistency, so that there is a centralised decision making, but in partnership with the other organisations and community groups. Particularly when: (a) a safety plan has to be established and (b) removal must take place, one or the other. When a safety plan is brought in, next of kin may be asked to be involved to keep an eye, sight the child, child stay over with the next of kin, rather than with the parent who may be dealing with issues, or may be a person of concern to the authorities. So, a safety plan. There could be more intrusive measures that need to be taken to safekeep the child, including removing the child from parent or parents, and putting them either with next of kin, with foster families or in children's homes, while the issues are being addressed and being worked through. So, that is how it is carried out on the ground, and a lot of judgement and empathy is involved. Having said that, the centrality of child safety is foundational.”
“We want to make sure that all of these are in place and people understand that they can do so and seek help and report, so that we can take a look.”
“The Member asked about the need for physical sighting of the child if there are concerns, the answer is yes, that is the current requirement. To see the child physically, not just to hear the child's voice or be assured by some third party, including a caregiver, or a Zoom kind of verification. It is physical, in-person sighting for children of concern, children at risk. For legal reporting, I think I have answered that earlier in my response. There are legal thresholds that mandate reporting, both for certain institutions as well as for public. But having said that, the Member is talking about raising concerns even at lower thresholds. When a child comes to school or to childcare centre or goes to a community organisation with bruises, it is a very young child, the first thing you would ask the caregiver and parents is, what happened? Quite often, the response is "fell down", "child discipline". And for most people, well, okay, we take the parents' word for it. Then, over time, if there are certain dots that when you connect them, then you realise that actually this is a bit more concerning. Does the parent need help? Is there caregiver stress? Is there some trigger that might be more sinister than discipline or an accident? And it has got to do with judgement. Yes, we have protocols in place and these – I will not say tick boxes because it does give a wrong impression – but they indeed are based on past cases and experience, and they guide frontliners in deciding what to ask, when to ask, when to raise concerns, and who to raise concerns to. So, the Member mentioned high bar of reporting, but we are talking about raising concerns with the family, with social workers and with NAVH so that we can act.”
“I had mentioned in my reply that the system can work only if our frontliners have the skills, the judgement, the experience and the morale to keep this sentinel safety net strong and therefore, that is a priority. Therefore, capability building and strengthening resourcing was point number one in my response. I would not repeat what I said earlier, bearing in mind Speaker's admonition about long replies. Fear of reporting, I have also addressed that in my reply. In the Break the Silence campaign, we aim to encourage members of the public, if you hear something, see something that is not right, if you hear children screaming, if you hear shouting, beating, if you know your neighbour, ask if they need help, if they need some support, and if you are concerned, report. There is NAVH, and we will act. For frontline agencies like preschools, schools, there is outreach, there is engagement for preschools every year, for leaders, Protective Service will go out and do a refresher. There are protocols in place, there are timelines for reporting. All these are in place, but ultimately it is about their sense of collective responsibility and mission, which I also mentioned earlier. Sharing of updates, the Panel had a very good recommendation as to make sure that when things go wrong, you do not just do a bilateral with the organisation, you do not just do an internal review. Share it more widely with the sector so that we all can strengthen our processes and benefit. And we will endeavour to do so.”
“Sir, on the first question for the follow-up on the Panel's recommendations, as I said earlier, we accept all the recommendations but in terms of follow-up, we will work closely with the sector, consult them and implement them by the end of next year. And whether it is a comparative study of overseas jurisdictions or engaging our sector to better strengthen our system, which we have been doing and will continue to do, all that will be taken on board, and I thank the Member for his suggestions. Likewise, for audit, I have talked about practice audits, I have talked about various ways in which we ensure some consistency across the whole sector – because there are many organisations and many individuals involved in protection work. As I said earlier, there are screening guides, there are reporting guides, there are protocols in place. All these are important ways, on top of practice audits, to maintain and uphold standards. And I take the Member's suggestions on board.”
“So, with the Sectors Specific Screening Guide, which we endeavour to train and have been training many frontliners, including in the preschools, it gives them some guide to look at in order to assess whether this is a case of concern. No doubt, concerned teachers and school leaders will ask questions, will show concern, and that is the right thing to do. But when enough of the dots are connected and you see that in the Sector Specific Screening Guide, then, the guidance to our agencies and preschools is: report; have this looked at more closely. The third question that the Member has is initiatives like the one he mentioned. We welcome more hands on deck. We welcome community organisations, even corporates who want to play a part in strengthening public education, strengthening awareness and helping in this collective effort to look out for the vulnerable amongst us, whether it is children, persons with disability, seniors, and so on. And we would like to encourage them, step forward if they want to play a part, and we will work with them.”
“I thank the Member for his observations and his questions. The balance, as I said earlier, is between setting out the facts as to what happened and on the other hand, keeping the sector cohesive as a whole. The aim is to reflect on what happened and see how those gaps should be closed. And so, there was not and should not be an intention to point fingers. At the same time, the public expect some accountability and laying out of the facts. That is what happened in the report of the independent Panel. And we have read the report and seen what happened. So, to the extent that there was a misunderstanding that there was finger pointing, we have apologised to the relevant agencies, including Beyond Social Services, for the misunderstanding that had occurred. It was not the intention, but if that was perceived, we have apologised as well. For preschools, because they deal with very young children from infants to the age of six, sometimes, it is very hard to discern what is actually happening. And that is why we need two things. On the one hand, with experience, we produce protocols, guides to empower our frontliners, including preschool leaders and preschool teachers and carers, to be able to identify concerns and possible child abuse. So, as I said earlier, if they detect something of concern, they can report. It will be for the social workers to offer more targeted support and for the protection agencies to intervene and make safe for the child. Having said that, I understand that there is a relationship between the preschool and the preschool teachers, and the parents and children. They come to school every day, or almost every day, and you want to maintain that relationship.”
“As I said in my reply at the end, we certainly have protocols, standard operating procedures, and common language and screening guides. All these are important so that things do not get missed, so that people can have the benefit of experienced people who have come out with these protocols for us to follow, so that our system can get better. But that is no substitute for the importance of a strong inter-agency collaborative relationship between one another, all wanting to work together, all knowing each other and all imbibing that common vision and mission of taking care of the most vulnerable. So, I agree with the Member that it is work that is underway and it is a continuous work in progress, as new officers join the system. The Member asked why there was a review in 2025. I think Minister Masagos, as well as MSF had explained previously that in 2020, internal reviews had been carried out by the organisations concerned as well as bilaterals with MSF. But in 2025, both during and after the sentencing of the perpetrators involved in Megan's death, new information had surfaced, for example, photographs as well as new information from some of the agencies concerned. And MSF decided, notwithstanding the bilaterals done earlier, to convene an independent Panel, in order to strengthen the safeguards in our system and to look into the new facts that have surfaced.”
“Because if they are demoralised, if they feel that this work is too much to bear, then it will be even harder for us to maintain this sentinel system to protect the most vulnerable amongst us. So, the Member is quite right in that when things go wrong – and in this case, things went wrong – we bear it as a sector, we bear it as agencies responsible, having interacted with, or having had opportunity to interact with the cases. Certainly, when officers have breached protocols, as you have heard Minister of State Goh, and as I have mentioned earlier, internal reviews and action have to be taken. But the burden is on the whole sector, as well as on the organisations concerned. So, we strike a balance between both very paramount considerations. And we must keep building that. When I gave my response earlier, you would see graphically in your mind that child protection work involves rings of concentric circles, and they all have to work collectively together, the wider circle being members of the public, neighbours, colleagues, strangers, lending a helping hand or reporting abuse, so that the inner rings, community organisations like schools, preschools, general practitioners, clinics, can take a closer look and also report. For an even inner ring of child protection case management agencies, including the Protective Service, to be able to intervene, offer help, protect the child through safety plans, and in the most high risk cases, intervene statutorily, with the Police, with the Courts, if necessary. For all that to work, we need to continue to build up this culture of collective ownership, of relationships between organisations in this safety net.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his important questions, but before I proceed, may I just make a correction to what I said earlier. I mentioned in my response that for Child Protection Service, now known as Protective Service, we have doubled our Child Protection Officers from 45 in 2019, to more than 90 in 2040, and we are continuing to expand. I meant to say 2024, not 2040. With that correction behind us, Sir, I will address the Member's two questions. I thank him for his sensitivity to the work that is being done by our frontline officers, both in MSF as well as in the social sector. This is prevention work. The sector is working together and working with the community and the public to prevent harm from occurring. It is a challenging and difficult and onerous responsibility which the sector bears and must bear, for the protection of children and vulnerable persons, whether spouses, persons with disability, the elderly, and so on. And when a tragic outcome happens – whether hurt, serious hurt or a death – everyone who has or might have had an opportunity or a touchpoint feels this, not just organisationally and sectorally, but individually. And it is a question of "what ifs?" And as I said, it is prevention work, and our officers, both frontline as well as in the community, engage a lot of people all the time. So that, for us, in handling cases like these, it is a balance between, on the one hand, transparency and accountability, which is important to maintain public trust and confidence, and confidence by the parents that children will be taken care of by the community; and on the other hand, making sure that the morale, the determination and the will of our frontliners and our social workers is not broken.”
“MSF will continue to engage and work closely with stakeholders to strengthen our internal systems and communication across agencies. We must carefully calibrate our efforts even as we do more. Protocols and structured tools are important, but they should guide and not replace critical thinking, judgement and relationship building. We must never reduce child protection work or vulnerable protection work to a mere check box system. Instead, we need to build trust and relationships over and on top existing systems and procedures – between parents, the community, social services and the Government. As individuals and as a society, let us look out for those who may be struggling: parents and caregivers who need support in parenting and child caregiving, turn to our community and social service agencies for help and guidance. Each time a tragedy like Megan's occurs, we feel anger, sorrow and regret. Whether we are members of society or social work professionals, we must work together and do our utmost to protect our children. Let us rededicate ourselves to protecting every child and vulnerable person, never forgetting those whom we have lost.”
“In Recommendation 3, the Panel proposed that MSF should review ECDA's role in triaging potential intra-familial child protection cases. We agree. By early next year, preschools will report such cases directly to the NAVH. In Recommendation 4, the Panel recommended that we correct the wrong perception that only family members can make a Police report of a missing child and to create a safe culture of reporting. Since 2020, MSF has put in place formal protocols for cases where a child is unsighted or missing. There is now a common understanding within the sector that anyone can make a Police report of a missing child. But we will continue raising public awareness and understanding of this issue, such as through the Break the Silence campaign. In Recommendation 5, the Panel proposed that lessons learnt from critical incidents should be routinely shared with community agencies. In the past, MSF would carry out bilateral reviews of incidents with the relevant social service agencies. In future, all deaths of children known to social services will be independently reviewed with lessons shared across the sector. We will consult with the sector on how best to do this. On the final recommendation about providing more structured support for social service practitioners, I would like to assure Members that MSF is taking steps to bolster the morale of our protection officers and the social services sector. As recommended by the Panel, employers can do more to create a safe and supportive work environment for protection practitioners. To enable this, MSF will set up a Protection Practitioners Care Fund to implement capability building and well-being initiatives for protection practitioners. Further details will be announced next year. Sir, let me conclude.”
“When the Police come across a case of suspected child abuse, besides conducting Police investigations, they will also inform MSF for safety planning and social intervention. The new social service coordination centre, which I mentioned earlier, will also provide tighter links to Police operations. Finally, let me address questions from Members on the Government's response to the Panel's recommendations. MSF fully accepts the Panel's recommendations. They focus on three broad areas: first, improving the clarity of roles within the child protection ecosystem; second, fostering a stronger learning culture; and third, providing more structured support for social service practitioners. We will consult and work closely with the social sector to implement the recommendations progressively and complete the implementation by end 2026. Sir, some of our responses to the Panel's recommendations have already been set out earlier in my reply. For example, the establishment of the social service coordination centre; the use of analytic tools and technology to track cases and connect the dots; and working with agencies which are not child protection case management agencies to surface cases to child protection management agencies, so that we can handle them. I will briefly set out our responses to the other recommendations for completeness and since Members have asked. In Recommendation 2, the Panel proposed establishing an appeals mechanism to address cases where agencies have differing views on risk levels and case management. This has to be done quite quickly. So, MSF will set up a Triage Assessment Panel by the first quarter of 2026 to do this and to determine which agency is best placed to manage the case, and then move.”
“We have also started to contact other social service agencies and organisations that are not child protection case management agencies to surface all suspected child abuse cases. This will be done progressively and expeditiously. Today, the Protective Service conducts periodic practice reviews with external consultants to assess whether officers have made accurate case assessments and complied with protocols. We intend to further strengthen our quality assurance framework by increasing the frequency of practice reviews and expanding the audit scope. MSF will implement the enhanced measures by 2026. Several Members suggested having more centralised coordination and data integration. Indeed, MSF will be setting up a new social service coordination centre supported by technology. It will help us better detect, sense make and connect the dots for cases from different touch points, such as the social services, education, preschool, community and other sectors. We are also working to improve protocols and coordination with the Police for missing children, something mentioned by Mr Victor Lye. Today, child protection case management agencies have to lodge a police report within 24 hours and concurrently alert Protective Service. The Protective Service also reports cases to the Police within 24 hours. When a case of suspected child abuse is reported to the Police, the Police will assess the case based on the facts and circumstances. For cases assessed as higher risk, for example, involving serious physical harm or sexual abuse, the Police will immediately intervene to ensure the child's safety. The Protective Service will keep a close watch on missing children reports made to the Police by case agencies and work closely with the Police.”