Debated in Parliament on 23 Sep 2025.
Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat asked the Minister for Education (a) what criteria warrant more than one full-time counsellor per school; (b) whether independent audits have assessed allocation adequacy; (c) if so, whether results will be published and when will allocations be revised; and (d) whether the Ministry will meet the American School Counsellor Association (ASCA) recommendation of 1:250 counsellor-to-student ratio.
Ms Jessica Tan1 and Mr Kenneth Tiong asked about the Government's support for students' mental health. I will address related queries raised by Dr Wan Rizal and Ms Eileen Chong who have filed Parliamentary Questions for the Sitting on or after 24 September 2025, to provide a more holistic answer. [Please refer to "Statistics on School Counsellors in Primary and Secondary Schools and Measures to Improve Early Mental Health Intervention for Students", Official Report, 24 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 4, Written Answers to Questions section.]
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is committed to supporting our students' mental well-being. We integrate mental health education into our character and citizenship education curriculum from primary to pre-university levels. Students learn essential skills for mental well-being and also ways to manage their emotions and stress. They also learn where and how to seek help and become more resilient.
Every school has one or two trained school counsellors, based on needs. There are about 220 trained counsellors in our primary schools and another 220 in our secondary schools. MOE reviews our deployment of counsellors annually based on the caseload and case complexity reported by schools. Schools with greater counselling needs would be provided with additional resources, such as a second counsellor or flexi-adjunct counsellor. This needs-based staffing approach allows us to deploy resources where they are most needed, rather than applying a single staffing ratio regardless of context.
Beyond the counsellors, students can access support through the ecosystem of support in schools, comprising teachers and peer support networks. The implementation is monitored at the school level, with regular engagement and support from MOE. MOE also tracks a suite of mental health indicators across the system and monitors developments in other comparable systems for review and improvement.
The Government is committed to improving mental health access to all, including our youths. As part of the National Mental Health and Well-being Strategy, the Government has developed the Tiered Care Model to better support individuals according to their mental health needs. For those with mild to moderate needs who can be supported in the community, we are strengthening referral pathways across schools, community-based services and hospitals to make care delivery more seamless.
For students who prefer to seek help outside schools, we encourage them to turn to trusted adults at home and access community support, such as the Response, Early Intervention and Assessment in Community Mental Health (REACH) teams, national mindline 1771; or in-person services, like the Youth Community Outreach Teams (CREST-Youth) and Centre of Excellence for Youth Mental Health (CHAT) @ *SCAPE. In addition, the Ministry of Health is also looking into factors influencing youth help-seeking, including parental consent, to improve youths' access to mental health services.
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