Steps taken to ease student stress and keep schools safe

More steps are being taken to ensure the mental well-being of students and security measures will be updated without sacrificing the sense of trust and homeliness that comes with the school environment, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing told Parliament yesterday.

He was addressing concerns from MPs and Singaporeans following the River Valley High School incident, such as whether school security measures are sufficient and what is being done to ease the mental stressors students face.

"We do not want to turn our schools into fortresses, which will create unease and stress among our staff and students," he said yesterday, while acknowledging that security at schools was critical.

Mr Chan also gave a brief run-down on the series of events that unfolded on Monday last week when a 16-year-old boy allegedly killed a 13-year-old male schoolmate with an axe in the school toilet.

The debate on his ministerial statement saw 15 MPs speaking up from both sides of the House and flagging issues such as whether there were sufficient counselling resources in school, how the stigma around mental health struggles could be reduced and teachers equipped to look out for signs of distress in their students.

As one near-term measure to reduce exam stress, Mr Chan said students taking the O-, N-and A-level examinations this year will not be tested on some topics covered towards the end of their syllabus. All other students will also have the scope of their year-end exams reduced in a year disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, to cut their revision load.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) also plans to bring back co-curricular activities for secondary schools and pre-universities over the next few weeks as these help students bond and grow emotionally.

MOE also plans to raise the number of teacher counsellors deployed in schools from over 700 to more than 1,000 in the next few years.

Mr Chan added that while all schools now have at least one counsellor, MOE plans to recruit more or "re-role" suitable educators to be counsellors.

All teachers will also receive more training on mental health literacy to help them identify and support students in need, he said.

As for enhancing security in schools, Mr Chan said that the key to staying safe lies not in more intrusive measures, but in greater community vigilance. He noted that there are existing security measures in place such as physical barriers like fences and roller shutters, closed-circuit television cameras and alarm systems that can trigger an alert in the event of an intrusion.

He said: "MOE will continue to update our security measures in a targeted manner and apply them sensitively to balance the security needs without losing our sense of safety, trust and homeliness of the school environment."

On the broader issue of the mental well-being of young people, Mr Chan highlighted the need for a community safety net.

He said: "It takes an entire community to help look out for one another, to pick up warning indicators that something may not be going well with an individual close to us, to provide support and comfort to those who may be troubled."

Acknowledging the pressures young people face in a competitive, high-performing environment, he said their challenges are intensified by what happens online.

He also called on families to spend more time listening to the thoughts and feelings of their children, letting them share what they find stressful and giving them space to process their emotions.

He repeatedly called for young people to seek help if they require it and appealed to the public to not stigmatise those who come forward to seek help.

"Reaching out for help is a sign of strength, not weakness," he said.

"Let this incident motivate all of us to take down our barriers and treat struggling individuals who step forward with care and compassion," he told the House.