EDUCATION BILL (Report of Select Committee)

2.58 p.m.

The Minister for Education (Mr Chew Swee Kee): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move,

That the Report of the Select Committee on the Education Bill, as contained in Sessional Paper No. L.A. 19 of 1957, be adopted, subject to the recommittal of the Bill in respect of Clauses 2, 5, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 31, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 42, 44, 46, 48, 49, 53, 62 and 66 to a Committee of the whole Assembly.

Sir, I hope hon. Members of this House will not feel overwhelmed by the number of amendments that appear in the motion. We must all agree that the Education Bill has been one of the most difficult and controversial Bills in this Assembly. That the Select Committee has been able to present its Report is a sure indication that all Members of the Committee have co-operated fully in coming to a happy solution to most of the difficult problems presented by this Bill. In this respect, Sir, I must thank you, as Chairman of the Select Committee, for helping all of us to come to the present position. I must also say that the Members of the Opposition in the Select Committee have co-operated with the Members on the Government Benches in making most constructive and helpful suggestions during the meetings of the Select Committee.

There were some points which were not entirely agreeable to all Members of the Committee and I have given an undertaking to consider them and make my recommendations at this sitting. In going through these points I have also gone through the Bill quite thoroughly and have come to the conclusion that the amendments contained in my motion are necessary not only to improve the language of the Bill but also to put things right, and generally to make the Bill workable.

I will not take more time than is necessary in moving my motion by going into the various amendments in detail. I will deal with these amendments as each of them comes up and I will explain the need for them.

The Government is able to come to the decisions for the amendments today because there have been useful suggestions and criticisms from members of the public and organisations which have either submitted memoranda to the Select Committee or appeared personally before the Committee. Education is a matter that should concern everybody in this country, both young and old, and it is only right that people should have taken an interest in the Bill. In introducing this Bill, Government is laying the foundation stone for the education of children of all communities in Singapore without discrimination whatsoever. The job facing Government in educating the children of Singapore is enormous, and unless there is goodwill all-round, all the efforts that have been put into this Bill will be in vain.

There have been criticisms levelled at certain discretionary powers to be given to the Director of Education. I want to stress that we have tried to meet these criticisms as best we could, but I must remind the House that unless officials who are to administer the law for the good of the country have certain powers, we might as well have no laws. We must accept in good faith the fact that responsible officers will exercise their powers judiciously, and as far as my Ministry is concerned, I can assure the House that I will see that the powers are not abused by any of my officers. I would like to reiterate the assurance I gave to this House at one of the previous sittings of the Assembly that, wherever the Director of Education has discretionary powers under the Education Bill, I will take the necessary administrative action in my Ministry to see that he does not exercise these powers to the disadvantage of anyone, without prior reference to my Permanent Secretary or to me.

There is one other point which I wish to touch on, and that is in regard to clause 24 (e). There was some argument as to whether that provision should be taken out of the Bill, and I also gave an undertaking in the Select Committee to reconsider whether or not this paragraph (e) should be deleted. Although it is a fact that land is hard to come by in Singapore, particularly in the city area, I feel that the deletion of this paragraph will encourage the management of proposed schools in rural areas, or in places where land is not difficult to come by, to shirk its responsibility in providing adequate open air recreation for the pupils. We must also plan for the day when it may be possible to provide well-built school buildings in areas where large areas of land are not available. When we reach that stage, we may wish to consider taking over the pupils from schools that are unhealthy because of inadequate or unsatisfactory provision for open air recreation. Certain Members fear that this provision might be made use of rather indiscriminately for the cancellation of existing schools which cannot provide adequate or satisfactory open air recreation; but I must remind Members that no one will be so mad as to do this at a time when the problem involved of providing accommodation for children of school going age is already enormous. To cancel existing schools at such a juncture will worsen the problem rather than improve it, but this does not mean that my Ministry will not insist on certain improvements to schools which have inadequate or unsatisfactory open air recreation. In view of all the reasons given above, I have decided that paragraph (e) should remain if my Ministry is to function properly. Sir, I beg to move.

The Assistant Minister for Education (Inche Mohamed Sidik Bin Haji Abdul Hamid): Sir, I second the motion.

Bill accordingly recommitted to a Committee of the whole Assembly.

Bill considered in Committee.

[Mr SPEAKER in the Chair]

3.00 p.m.

Clause 2 -

The Chairman: Note has been taken in page 27, line 4, to leave out "Health: Inspector" where they first occur, and insert "health inspector".

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 27, line 10, to leave out from "means" to the end of line 12 and insert: "education beyond the standard normally required for admission to a university;".

Sir, it is considered that the definition of "higher education" as contained in the Bill is unsatisfactory because of the vagueness of the term "Chinese Higher Middle three". We have also left out the Malay and Tamil languages the proposed amendment therefore makes it clearer.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 27, after line 12, to insert:- '"Local authority" means the City Council, the Rural Board or a District Council;'.

Sir, the proposed amendment to the definition is necessary as a result of a reference to "local authority" in clause 18.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 27, to leave out lines 19 and 20 and insert: -'"public security" means the security of Malaya and the maintenance of public order therein;'.

Sir, the proposed amendment to the definition of "public security" is more satisfactory in that it makes a specific reference rather than by inference to the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 27, line 23, after "managers", to insert "and supervisors".

This amendment is necessary as a result of the amendments which have been made to clause 28 under which the supervisor of a school is registered and not approved by the Director.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 27, line 39, to leave out from "manager" to "supervisor" in line 41 and insert "registered as the".

Sir, this new definition of "supervisor" is necessary because, as I mentioned earlier, of clause 28 under which the supervisor of a school is registered.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 2, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 5 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 28, line 28, after "authority,", to insert:-

"to be nominated by such educational institutions, organizations or associations as may be approved by the Minister for that purpose and".

I gave an undertaking in the Select Committee to reconsider the amendment to clause 5 (2) at the recommittal stage. I have now given further thought to clause 5 (2) and decided to amend it as in the proposed amendment. This amendment will allow such educational institutions, organizations or associations to nominate persons to serve on the Finance Board. This is in line with the provisions of clause 8.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 28, line 36, to leave out "giving reasons".

Sir, on further consideration of the proviso to clause 5 (5), I have come to the conclusion that it is quite inappropriate to require the Minister to give reasons when he revokes an appointment originally made by him. Under the Interpretation Ordinance it is provided that the appointing authority is also the revoking authority, and no reasons are necessary. I should also like to point out that when the Minister makes an appointment, he is not required to give reasons. It must be accepted in good faith that responsible persons will exercise their powers judiciously, and it is no use requiring a person to give reasons if he is bent on acting injudiciously. However, as I have pointed out, under the Interpretation Ordinance the appointing authority is also the revoking authority.

Mr Lim Choon Mong (Serangoon): Mr Chairman, Sir, if I remember correctly, the words "giving reasons" were accepted by the Minister in Select Committee. Now the reason for not giving reasons when exercising the powers under this clause 5 (5) seems to be contrary to what he had reasoned out to be right. I will say that appointments of this nature to the Finance Board are important and the revocation of appointments is also as important. It may be the law of the Colony that the appointing authority is also the revoking authority, but it will definitely help to satisfy the public if the Minister agrees to his original idea of giving reasons for revoking any appointment, as had been requested by the representors who appeared before the Select Committee. Whether it is on the statute book or not, I believe it would be best to explain the reasons for taking such an important action as revoking an appointment.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, as I have pointed out, the Interpretation Ordinance states that the appointing authority is also the revoking authority and it appears then that having the words "giving reasons" in this Bill would actually be ultra vires. I have already given the reason for moving to leave out "giving reasons". I should also like to point out, Sir, that at the time of revoking an appointment, the Minister surely must have reasons for such revocation.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 29, line 3, to leave out "the" where it first occurs.

Sir, the words "On the" at the beginning of the sentence are the common words in that sentence and therefore the word "the" before "revocation" is not necessary.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 5, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 8 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 29, line 30, after "all", to insert "other". This amendment is actually to render the phraseology clearer.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 30, line 13, to leave out "giving reasons".

The same remarks apply when I spoke on clause 5, Sir.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendment made: In page 30, line 33, to leave out "the" where it first occurs. [Mr Chew Swee Kee].

Clause 8, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 12 -

Amendment made: In page 32, line 22, to leave out

"the" where it first occurs. - [Mr Chew Swee Kee].

Clause 12, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 13 -.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 32, line 31, after "a", to insert "manager or".

Sir, the Appeals Board provides for a membership consisting of, among other persons, registered teachers (not Government teachers) and also two registered managers to be appointed by the Minister. It is therefore logical that no appeal which concerns the registration of a manager or teacher, and not simply a teacher alone, shall be proceeded with unless one of the members present is a registered manager or teacher, as the case may be.

Amendment agreed to.

3.15 p.m.

Further Amendment made: In page 32, line 32, to leave out "registered teacher" and insert "registered manager or registered teacher, as the case may be". [Mr Chew Swee Kee].

Clause 13, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 14 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 33, line 2, after "Director", to insert "under this Ordinance". It is necessary to make it quite clear that appeals are from the decisions of the Director under this Bill and not simply any decision of the Director.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 14, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 18 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 34, line 4, to leave out "or". Deletion of the word "or" is necessary to make sure that payment is paid half yearly in advance and not half yearly or in advance, which may mean that a person could either pay in advance or half yearly at any time he likes.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 18, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 19 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 34, line 17, after "manager", to insert "and of the supervisor".

This is necessary because the supervisor of a school is now registered under clause 28.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 19, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 22 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 35, line 19, to leave out from "application" to the end of line 20 and insert "with or without conditions, or may refuse such application giving reasons for his refusal".

Sir, this is merely a rewording of the sub-clause to improve the language.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 22, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 23 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 35, line 30, to leave out "enquiry' and insert "such enquiry as may be necessary". Sir, the wording as it stands in the Bill means that the Director must make an enquiry whether there is need for it or not. The amendment will allow the Director to make such enquiry as may be necessary. Sir, this is in line with other provisions in the Bill where the Director is required to make some sort of enquiry and is usually given the discretion to make such enquiry as may be necessary.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 23, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 24 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move, in page 37, lines 4 to 6, to leave out paragraph (j).

Sir, the paragraph as it stands is quite useless because it is not possible to say under any circumstances that "the proposed school premises or equipment cannot be raised to a standard to allow of efficient tuition in the subjects to be taught in the school". Even a shack can be raised to a standard to allow of efficient tuition if it were pulled down and a skyscraper erected in its place. I have therefore considered this paragraph useless and it is better to delete it. It will do no harm to the Bill.

Mr John Ede (Tanglin): Mr Chairman, we welcome the decision of the Government to leave out this paragraph. We have always considered it to be vague and unsatisfactory and it is better deleted..

Amendment agreed to.

The Chairman: Consequential amendments to the letters of the succeeding paragraphs will be made.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 37, line 7, to leave out from "school" to

"or" in line 8 and insert:-

"is designed to accommodate more than one thousand two hundred pupils in any one session;".

Sir, this is merely a rewording to make it more logical. This paragraph deals with the Director's refusal to register a school in regard to its student population, and a proposed school cannot have a student population before it is registered. It is therefore quite wrong and illogical to say that a proposed school has a student population.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 37, line 13, to leave out "manager" and insert "Committee of Management". Sir, this is necessary because the supervisor is recommended by the Committee of Management and not by the manager alone.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 37, line 28, to leave out "undesirable in" and insert "against".

Sir, the word "undesirable" in this paragraph is obviously not the right word to use with the words "in the interests of the Colony". The proper word seems to me to be "against" and not "undesirable".

Amendment agreed to.

Question proposed, "That clause 24, as amended, stand part of the Bill."

Mr Lim Choon Mong: Sir, I have never been happy about this clause 24 right from the beginning and this will probably be noticed in the Report of the Select Committee. Up to now, Sir, I am still not happy with many paragraphs of this clause.

On clause 24 (a) -"the Director may refuse to register a school if adequate educational facilities already exist in the area . . ."-I personally feel that this is not necessary, because if there are already sufficient educational facilities in the area, then nobody will want to build a school there. I argued that out in the Select Committee and I will not waste the time of Members here to proceed further with it. But I should like to voice my non-conviction of the necessity for this paragraph.

On clause 24 (e) -

"The Director may refuse to register a school if the area provided for the open air recreation of pupils is inadequate or unsatisfactory;"-

that is practically an impossibility in the town. Business people in town may not find the cost of land excessive, but people living in the rural areas may find it formidable. To provide ideal conditions to run a school in any area which has limited land is, I think, too much to hope for.

Under clause 24 (g) -

"The Director may refuse to register a school if the proposed fees are excessive, having regard to the cost of maintaining and conducting the proposed school and the standard of education to be provided;"-

no one would send their children to a school that is demanding excessive fees, but because they cannot send their children to a school that is charging reasonable fees, that is the reason why the pupils have to go to schools which are charging excessive fees.

Under clause 24 (h) -

"The Director may refuse to register a school if the qualifications and experience of the proposed teachers are not adequate to ensure the efficient conduct of the proposed school;"-

I would say that no sane parents will send their children to a school with under-qualified teachers unless they are forced to.

All these points indicate that educational facilities in this colony are still inadequate and it is up to the Government to try and solve the problem. If they do not solve it, such conditions will still exist and such schools will still spring up.

I am, however, more concerned especially when clause 24 is going to be related to clause 25 where the Director may, under clause 25 (1) (a), cancel existing schools on all these grounds. All these schools are serving a useful purpose; they are helping in the education of our children. They must be given all the regard and respect because of their good work, and the powers in clause 24 (a) and (e) should never be exercised under clause 25 (1) (a), because it will be impossible for schools to make available playing fields when there are none. I want an assurance from the Minister for Education that clause 25 (1) (a), which touches on clause 24, will be exercised with the greatest of care and that no existing school should be punished.

3.30 p.m.

Mr Francis Thomas: I cannot help feeling, Mr Chairman, that the hon. Member has in mind the exciting debate we had in this House when our former Chief Minister proved that "may" means "shall". I would remind him that the word is "may" here - a permissive clause enabling the Director, in his discretion, to exercise a measure of control over these various aspects of school buildings. I am sure the hon. Member will agree that we should secure the very best we can for our students in schools. If we can get a committee to provide playing fields, they should have them. Some schools do not provide very big playing fields, others do; but if we can get them to provide them, they should provide them. And so with the other things mentioned in this clause.

The hon. Member raised the point about paragraph (a), that "adequate educational facilities already exist in the area in which it is proposed . . .". and I think he said that no sane person would attempt to provide facilities in an area where adequate facilities already were proposed would exist. Well, again I cannot help remembering the debate which took place in another democratic body, the City Council, when there was already one cinema in an area and two more were proposed, and more time and trouble were spent on those three cinemas than on almost any other matter which has come before the public of Singapore. The presumption is that somebody must, I suppose, have been insane because they were all trying to provide facilities where adequate facilities already existed.

My view is that his arguments in general are insufficient. The point is that the clause is not to close schools, or to be repressive or unnecessarily restrictive; the point is that the clause is to enable the authorities to put some pressure on any slack or negligent committee, to make sure that they do move forward and give the very best that can be given for our students, who are so important to us in Singapore.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, in reply to the hon. Member for Serangoon, I will give this undertaking as I have given just now, that no action will be taken to de-register any existing schools just because they lack recreational facilities. As I have pointed out in Select Committee, such a clause is merely to provide a guard against any unscrupulous person wanting to take advantage of the dollar-for-dollar grant-in-aid, just to make use of public funds for their own ends.

Question put, and agreed to.

Clause 24, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

The Chairman: There is a slight alteration to the title in Part VI; that will be made.

May I draw the attention of the Minister to the marginal note to clause 28? The marginal note reads, "Appointment and cancellation of appointment of supervisor.". whereas the clause reads:

"(1)The Committee of Management of a school shall recommend for registration one of their members to be the supervisor of the school.

(2) The Director may withhold registration . . .

(3) . . . he may withdraw registration ...".

I wonder whether the marginal title should not in fact be, "Registration and withdrawal of registration of supervisor."?

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Yes, Sir, it should be changed.

The Chairman: That will be done.

Clause 31 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 40, line 1, to leave out "other than a manager of a school" and insert "of a school other than a manager".

The words "of a school" are in the wrong place. The amendment is therefore to put the phraseology right.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 31, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 33 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 40, line 24, after "to", to insert "education or".

This amendment is to bring the provisions into line with similar provisions in clause 38 (b) and (d).

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 33, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 34 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 41, line 17, to leave out "after the date of his registration".

Under this clause the Director may cancel the registration of any manager of a school, that is to say, the Director will be considering managers who are already registered. Therefore the words "after the date of his registration" in paragraph (g) are redundant because it must be after the date of registration if the Director is considering the cancellation of registration.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 34, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 37 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 41, line 32, to leave out "he may think" and insert "may be".

This is to improve the phraseology.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 37, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 38 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 42, line 22, to leave out "as a manager or".

The Chairman: I think the Hon. Minister might touch on the next two amendments if he will give an explanation.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Yes, Sir. The amendment proposed to paragraph (d) is to allow a person to be registered as a teacher even if he has been struck off the register as a manager. This will be in line with the provisions of clause 33, under which a person may be registered as a manager even if he has been refused or struck off as a teacher.

Amendment agreed to.

Further Amendments made:

In page 42, line 27, to leave out "manager or". - [Mr Chew Swee Kee].

In page 42, lines 29 and 30, to leave out "or of which he was a manager". [Mr Chew Swee Kee].

Clause 38, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 39 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 43, line 5, after "if", to insert "he is".

This is to improve the phraseology and make it clearer.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 43, to leave out lines 7 to 11 inclusive and insert: -

"(c) if he is satisfied that the teacher is not competent to perform the duties of a teacher; or

(d) if the teacher has contravened any of the provisions of this Ordinance or of the regulations made thereunder.".

This is a re-arrangement to make the clause more readable and to prevent any ambiguity. Paragraph (c) has been slightly re-worded to make it more specific, that is to say, instead of a teacher not competent to perform the duties for which he is employed, it is more specific to say that the teacher is not competent to perform the duties of a teacher.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 39, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 42 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 44, lines 1 and 2, to leave out "an unregistered teacher to teach" and insert "the employment of an unregistered teacher'.

This amendment is to conform with what the Director does under clause 41. What the Director does is to authorise the employment of an unregistered teacher and such authority will be authority for the unregistered teacher to teach. The Director does not directly authorise an unregistered teacher as such.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 42, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 44 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 44, line 24, to leave out "revoked" and insert "cancelled".

The amendment to the word "revoked" to make it "cancelled" is to bring it in line with clause 20 (c), where it speaks of the cancellation of the authority to teach as an unregistered teacher under clause 44.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 44, lines 26 to 30, to leave out sub-clause (3).

This sub-clause is in fact unnecessary.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 44, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 46 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 45, line 4, to leave out from "applicant" to

"to" in line 7.

This is to leave out paragraph (a) which is unnecessary and would give rise to all sorts of difficulties. It must be assumed that the Director and the proposed manager will wish at one time or another before registration to meet and discuss certain matters. It is therefore better to have no such paragraph and leave it to the Director and the manager to see each other as and when necessary in their mutual interests.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 46, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 48 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 45, line 20, after "25,", to insert "28,".

This is necessary as a result of the registration of the supervisor under clause 28.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move.

In page 45, line 35, to leave out from "the" to "of" where it secondly occurs in line 39 and insert:-

"decision has been made under paragraph(n), (o) or (p) of section 24, paragraph (a) or (e) of subsection (1) of section 25, paragraph (f) of section 33, paragraph (f) or (g) of section 34, paragraph (g) of section 38 or paragraph (a) of section 39".

This is partly a rewording and partly the addition of paragraph (f) of section 34 and paragraph (a) of section 39 to make it clear that a decision under these additional paragraphs may come within the jurisdiction of the Minister and therefore appeals should be made to him. However, there may be borderline cases and I propose at a later stage to move an amendment to the same clause by adding a proviso, and that is where the Minister may direct that the appeal may be heard by the Appeals Board.

The Chairman: There seems to be another addition, Mr Minister - paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 25. I thought the Minister mentioned paragraph (f) of section 34 and paragraph (a) of section 39; I did not hear him say paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 25.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Yes, Sir, I did mention paragraph (a) of section 25.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 45, line 41, at end, to add:-

Provided that the Minister may direct that any appeal made to him shall be heard by the Appeals Board".

I have given the explanation earlier.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 48, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

3.45 p.m.

Clause 49 -

Amendment made: In page 46, line 23, after "25,", to insert "28,". [Mr Chew Swee Kee].

Clause 49, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 53 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 47, line 36, after "officer", to insert "empowered under section 4 of this Ordinance".

This is to make it clear and to prove beyond doubt that the officers are the officers empowered under section 4, and not just any officer.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendment made. In page 48, line 7, after "or" to insert "such".-[Mr Chew Swee Kee].

Clause 53, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

The Chairman: Clause 55, Mr Minister, in page 49, line 1, there appears to be a typographical error - "of" where it secondly occurs should be "or".

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Yes, Sir.

The Chairman: We shall make that correction.

Clause 62 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 52, line 24, to leave out "of" and insert "not exceeding".

This amendment is to give the sub-clause the spirit that is intended, and that is to make it more flexible for a court to impose the fine.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 62, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 66 -

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Sir, I move,

In page 53, line 14, to leave out from "registered" to the end of line 24 and insert -

"as the supervisor of any school registered at the date of the coming into force of this Ordinance such school shall be deemed to have ceased to be registered unless, within one month of the coming into force of this Ordinance, a manager has been recommended by the Committee of Management of the school to be supervisor thereof for the purpose of this Ordinance and duly registered under the provisions of section 28 of this Ordinance.".

This amendment is necessary in view of the change that has been brought about under clause 28 of the Bill, where a supervisor is recommended by the committee of management and subsequently registered as a supervisor.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 66, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Bill reported, with Amendments; read the Third time and passed.