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jjrchome LV16
发表于 18-9-2012 17:34:15
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教育部在“剪发事件”中持强硬态度，孩子的妈妈成了“反面典型”，她感到伤心。。。
Minister... I'm not giving an excuse
By Esther Ng
The New Paper
Tuesday, Sep 18, 2012
SINGAPORE - She was upset at first. Now she is just sad.
Sad that she was used as an example of an unreasonable parent, one who does not respect school rules.
On Wednesday, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat touched on Madam Serene Ong's filing of a police report after a teacher had cut her son's hair.
He had mentioned the incident briefly in the annual MOE Work Plan Seminar speech to 1,000 principals and educators at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
Madam Ong, 39, had filed the police report on Aug 16 after her son's teacher cut his hair just as he was about to sit for his PSLE oral exam.
Said Mr Heng: "The simple fact is that the son was reminded, over and over again, to trim his hair; and when that failed, the school sent a letter to the parent.
"The mother's response was that her son was dyslexic and therefore forgetful."
Mr Heng had touched on teachers being "over anxious" in dealing with demanding parents in his speech, and hoped that parents see and "value teachers as their partners too".
Madam Ong, however, stressed that she had no issues working with her son's teachers and had put the matter behind her until it was raked up this week by the media.
"He said my son was reminded 'over and over again' to get his hair cut, but according to my son, this was not the case," Madam Ong tells The New Paper on Sunday.
"How did (the minister) know that my son was reminded over and over again? He didn't talk to us. "I wish he did, and heard my side of the story."
The senior sales executive says she sent a short e-mail to MrHeng, explaining that he had misunderstood her.
In an e-mail reply to TNP on Saturday, a Ministry of Education (MOE) spokesman said: "MOE provides schools with a set of guidelines in the management of school discipline, such as the objectives of discipline and communication of school rules.
"Within this set of guidelines, schools may formulate their own school rules based on their school context and needs, including whether or not to inform parents before disciplinary action is taken.
"As part of discipline in schools, students are encouraged to be presentable and neat.
"In this particular instance, the student was reminded numerous times to cut his hair and when he still failed to do so, a letter was sent to the parent.
"By going to the police and to the media, and demanding an apology from the teacher, the parent would have inadvertently set a poor example for her son with regard to respect for school rules."
On Aug 16, minutes before Madam Ong's son was about to enter the venue for his PSLE oral exam, his mathematics and science teacher came up to him with a pair of scissors.
"She told me that my hair was too long and that she had to cut it. She said if she didn't cut it, my marks would be lowered," the 12-year-old from Unity Primary School told TNP on Aug 22.
The teacher then asked for his permission to cut his hair. Faced with little choice, the boy agreed.
Madam Ong stresses that she is not against school rules and that she "respects" them, but all she wanted was for the teacher to inform her that she was going to take such action.
She says: "If she had called and said that she was going to cut my son's hair, I would have said yes. I might not be happy about it, but I would have said yes because it was well-intentioned."
In an e-mail to Madam Ong on Aug 28, an MOE officer said: "We agree that it was inappropriate of (the teacher) to cut (your son's) hair just before the examination.
"The principal has advised (the teacher of) a more appropriate way of handling such cases."
In the same e-mail, MOE explained that the teacher only wanted Madam Ong's son to look neat and presentable before the exam.
The ministry also noted that the school had earlier issued a letter to Madam Ong's son to remind him to cut his hair, but he had forgotten to tell Madam Ong about the letter.
A notice dated Aug 14, was given to Madam Ong's son two days before his PSLE oral exam on Aug 16.
The boy only remembered the notice and produced the notice from his school bag when TNP visited their home seven days later.
Madam Ong's reaction was one of surprise and dismay.
"I was angry that my son did not inform me about the letter and that he could be so forgetful," she told TNP then.
She had also said that her son is dyslexic and therefore absent-minded.
This comment was picked up and mentioned by Mr Heng in his speech during the MOE Work Plan Seminar.
The minister had said: "Dyslexic people are not forgetful."
But Madam Ong maintains: "I never used my son's condition as an excuse, I was merely pointing out that he's forgetful."
Ms Cara Tan, 25, a teacher from the Dyslexia Association of Singapore who has taught Madam Ong's son for three years, told TNPS that "weak memory is one of the characteristics" of a dyslexic person.
She adds: "It depends on the severity of the condition - there's a whole spectrum from mild to severe.
"In the case of Madam Ong's son, he leans towards the severe, especially in literacy and memory. "He's 12, but his reading and spelling age is that of a nine or 10-year-old.
"One of his biggest problems is memory.
"He can't remember a number of words even though he's read them before. I realise I have to teach him how to spell it a few times."
As for making a police report, Madam Ong said she wanted to put the incident on record, but only after calling the MOE twice and being told that it would be fine to go to the police.
Madam Ong says that after the first reports were published, she and her two children - she also has a 13-year-old daughter - have been affected by comments from friends and netizens.
She says: "So you bringing this up is not good. Everything has been settled, the teacher has apologised, my son has moved on. I have no issues with my son's teachers and am happy to work with them."
The MOE e-mail to Madam Ong stated that the teacher had apologised to Madam Ong and her son.
Said an MOE spokesman then: "Every school has in place school rules and discipline management processes to help students develop self-discipline. Such rules are drawn up within the broad guidelines provided by the ministry.
"We encourage you to work with the school and help (your son) move on so that he can focus (on) his preparation for his PSLE."
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