Prohibiting those Convicted of Sexual Offences and Violent Crimes from Practising as Educators or Tutors

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider prohibiting those who had committed or convicted of sexual offences and violent crimes from practising as an educator, tuition teacher or enrichment teacher.

Mr Speaker, MOE and its educational institutions, including our kindergartens, are committed to providing a safe learning environment for our students. MOE does not hire anyone who has committed offences of moral turpitude, including sexual offences and violent crimes. We expect our educators to conduct themselves in a manner which upholds the integrity of the profession and the trust placed in them.

MOE takes a serious view of any misconduct by educators and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to our standards, including dismissal from service. The private tuition and enrichment industry is diverse, with a wide range of providers and settings. This includes tuition and enrichment centres, as well as freelance private tutors and enrichment teachers.

Under the Education Act, centres offering tuition or enrichment programmes to 10 or more students must be registered with MOE. Tutors working at these centres must also be registered with MOE. During registration, applicants must declare whether they have been convicted of any offence punishable with imprisonment, including sexual offences or violent crimes.

MOE will not register any applicant who declares that he or she has been convicted of such serious offences.

However, MOE does not conduct background checks on these applicants as they are employees of private businesses. Freelance tutors or enrichment teachers who offer private lessons outside of centres, for example, in homes or agencies that provide matching services between private tutors and students, currently do not need to be registered with MOE and are not covered by the regulations.

As the Minister for Home Affairs had informed Parliament in April 2022, the Government is reviewing how best to strengthen the screening framework for those working with children. This includes whether to make it mandatory for freelance providers of services for children to be screened for serious offences, including sexual offences.

I thank the Minister for the response and reply. Just two supplementary questions. Firstly, I take cognisance that MHA will be reviewing the screening of potential educators and even trainers and coaches of young children. But in light of the recent spate of cases of sex fiends against young persons, would MOE be looking at licensing tuition teachers, whether in a private setting and second, coaches and instructors that deliver services to students?

Mr Speaker, Sir, as mentioned, MOE currently does not regulate private freelance tutors as these services are delivered in a wide range of settings, including informal forms of home tuition and roving home tutors. But we will be working with MHA, as I have mentioned earlier. MHA is currently reviewing it and the relevant Ministries are looking into how this screening framework for those working with children can be strengthened, including whether to make it mandatory for freelance providers of services for children to be screened for serious offences. Some of the considerations include balancing between protecting the vulnerable while providing people with second chances. So, we will come back to the House when the review is completed.

But the other issue, Mr Speaker, is that we also want to encourage parents who engage these private tutors and service providers to also exercise care and due diligence, for example, not leaving the tutors and child alone behind closed doors and continue to engage their own children and the tutors, and communicating with them so that they can also ensure the safety of their children when they engage such private operators and service providers.