INCIDENCE OF CRIME BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua asked the Minister for Education whether ill discipline is rising in schools and among students outside schools, and what measures are being taken to help stem such incidence.

RAdm Teo Chee Hean: State Of Discipline In Schools

The overall state of discipline in our schools is good. Serious cases of breach of discipline are infrequent.

MOE has implemented the Behaviour Tracking and Analysis (BETA) system in schools since 1995. The system collects data on the state of discipline in individual schools. For primary schools, misdemeanours such as not doing assignments and disruptive behaviour, and attendance-related offences, constitute 84% of all the recorded offences. In the secondary schools, 74% of the offences were attendance-related, namely, late-coming and truancy.

The BETA records show no significant statistical change in the offence rates from 1995 to 1997. "Offence rates" refers to the number of offences per 1000 pupils. The data for 1998 show the number of serious offences such as gangsterism and possession of weapons remaining close to that of 1997, and the number of cases of substance abuse falling from 272 in 1997 to 40 in 1998. However, the incidence of smoking has risen from 14 per 1000 pupils over the three years 1995 -1997 to 19 per 1000 pupils in 1998.

The overall offence rate for boys has remained stable over the years, but a worrying trend is the increasing offence rate for girls in the secondary schools. Though lower than the male offence rates, the female offence rates have increased by 6% to 9% per year over the last 4 years, going up from 300 in 1995 to 456 in 1998.

A committee chaired by the Senior Minister of State for Education, Dr Aline Wong, was set up in May last year to look into the discipline situation among girls in schools. The committee is finalising its recommendations.

Measures To Address Discipline in Schools

The Ministry's philosophy is that to care is to discipline. Schools by and large take a whole-person approach to discipline. They have many programmes and support structures to help promote discipline. Besides the creation of the posts of Discipline Master, Head/Pupil Welfare and, most recently, Operations Manager, there is also the Voluntary Special Constabulary Scheme where teachers assume the mantle of law enforcement officers to help reinforce an orderly school environment.

Teachers have been equipped with basic counselling skills and many spend much time counselling errant students. Such efforts are complemented by programmes like life skills and peer mediation.

However, discipline of students is not just the responsibility of schools. Parents must remain primarily responsible for their children, particularly outside of school hours. While the Ministry does not have data on ill-discipline outside school, schools do work closely with the Neighbourhood Police Posts through the NPP-School Link-Up Scheme. Many schools also mount before-and-after-school programmes to keep their students gainfully engaged in school activities.

Ultimately though, schools need the support, co-operation and understanding of parents and the community to insist on good discipline. With the benefit of advice and feedback from COMPASS - the Committee on Community and Parents in Support of Schools, the Ministry will work towards the greater involvement of parents and the community in promoting good discipline in and outside the school environment.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether the incidence of crime by illegal immigrants or overstayers has risen over the last twelve months and what steps are being taken to keep such incidence in check.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: The incidence of crime by illegal immigrants and overstayers has remained low. In 1998, the number of crimes committed by immigration offenders was about 250. This is about 0.5% of the total number of seizable offences reported in 19981. Of the 1929 foreigners arrested for crimes in 1998, 210 (10.9%) were illegal immigrants and 46 (2.4%) were overstayers. These immigration offenders were mostly involved in minor offences, such as shoplifting.

It is not practical to devise specific measures targeted only at the immigration offenders involved in crime. Hence, my Ministry's approach is to deter and take tough enforcement action against all immigration offenders in Singapore. In this regard, we have enhanced the penalties in the Immigration Act. Immigration officers have stepped up their vigilance at our checkpoints, the Coast Guard has intensified its patrols and surveillance of suspicious activities at sea, and the Police has conducted islandwide raids at suspected places of refuge. This has led to a record high of 23,000 in the total number of illegal immigrants and overstayers arrested in 1998.

The Home Team will maintain its enforcement efforts to ensure that the immigration offender situation and the associated crime problems remain firmly under control.

1 In 1998, 48,260 seizable offences were reported.