I received a call from a policeman belonging to the Violence Against Person Squad (VAP). He said that he wants to know what happened between us and the Ministry of Education (MOE) with regards to our daughter.
Background information:
When my daughter was in her primary 4 (10 yrs old), due to some school issues, I requested for her to sit for her SA2 (final year exam) in the school’s General Office. The principal (Mdm Balakrishna) did not accede to this request and thus, my daughter did not sit for her exam.
As the school issue has not been addressed, I applied through the principal for homeschooling for my daughter. Months later, someone from the Compulsory Education Unit (CEU) called and inform me that I’m not allowed to homeschool her due to my daughter not taking her P4 final year exam (special arrangement was not approved by the principal).
There were no more follow-ups from the CEU until when my daughter turned 12, where a meeting involving a few people including the principal, Karen Chan (Head of CEU) and myself was arranged. In this meeting, both the principal and Karen agreed on not allowing my daughter to take her Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) if she did not return back to school. Since then, we engaged in correspondence with the group.
When my daughter was about to reach 15 (according to the Compulsory Education Act, a child of ‘compulsory school age’ is one who is above the age of 6 years and who has not yet attained the age of 15 years), the principal sent me a report and copied it to Karen Chan. Most of the content in it contains inaccurate information. I have highlighted the huge disparities in the report to both of them, yet none of them bothered to respond.
Out of a sudden, not knowing what has happened, we received a call from a policeman belonging to the Violence Against Person Squad (VAP). He said that he wants to know what happened between us and the Ministry of Education (MOE). We provided him with the information, however he did not get back to us ever since.
It has been almost 2 months and there was still no update from him, thus we requested to close the case as we did not do anything wrong, plus there were no further queries from him.
Suddenly, his superior sent a text message insisting to meet-up to investigate on the matter (in which we still have no clue what it is about). We have requested him to write an email to explain on the situation (to make sure it’s clearly documented), but he came back with a reply of “communication thru email and behind computers is not helpful, not effective and will cause misunderstanding”.
How can a simple school issue propagate to such a serious case involving the police, from the Violence Against Person Squad?
“You don’t want to be the first parent to be sued for kids not returning back to school” was the statement Karen said to me in my previous meeting. The school’s principal has also reiterated on this.
Hmm… food for thought…
Reviewing from past experiences, where there are huge disparities between statements made (especially those of the school’s principal) and a lack of transparency in communication (no meeting minutes after meetings, questions and requests were left unresponded to), I would like to ask if it is possible to take this straight to court to settle this issue.
How can a simple school issue propagate to such a serious case involving the police, from the Violence Against Person Squad?
It is the law....you broke the law.
Your story is rather fishy too.
@Summer hill
If I have broken the law, I would have already been arrested.
As requested by the police, I've already forwarded the relevant documents and attachments to them but they didn't get back to me on anything.
My daughter has already left school for close to 5 yrs, yet this report was only lodged recently in Dec 2013. If anything, the report should be lodged during the time that my daughter was still in school (by the way, they have not seen her since 2009).
It was due to unresolved school issues that I decided to homeschool my daughter. By shielding her from the pressures faced in school, does that mean I don't love her?
Mdm Tan,
"
In Singapore, it is the law for our children to attend primary school under the Compulsory Education Act. In order to homeschool, we need to seek permission from the ministry of Education (MOE) to be exempted from this Act. However, our homeschoolers will need to sit for the PSLE the year they turn 12.
For Singaporean homeschoolers, there are two critical aggregate scores we need to clear. One is the benchmark which is set at the lower 33rd percentile of that year's cohort scoring. Failing to meet the benchmark will see the homeschooler re-sit the exam in the following year/s until he or she passes the benchmark OR turns 15 yrs of age, which ever comes first.
The other critical score would be the fail aggregate. (I don't even know what that score is...) If the homeschooler outright fails the PSLE, the MOE will revoke the permission to homeschool and the child will be placed in a public school to prepare for the PSLE."
-http://apieceofcake.typepad.com/homeschooling_in_sg/
we have no head or tail also
should meet up and settle once and for all
yes, find a lawyer
though i wonder how many out there has exp in this
Your child did not sit for any national test to prove she is getting proper education as a homeschooler.
Without any proper accreditation she will not be able to apply for higher education elsewhere, nor apply for a job that require more than PSLE.
The rest of the world will simply assume she has no education.
Your motherly love is destroying your child's future. Is that really what you want ? Or perhaps your family is super rich ?
Originally posted by FireIce:we have no head or tail also
should meet up and settle once and for all
yes, find a lawyer
though i wonder how many out there has exp in this
Her case is very clear cut.
This mother does not know the proper way/channel to homeschool her child.
Withholding education is a form of child abuse.
Her child did not sit for PSLE, that's why the authorities got involved again.
Her suspicious behavior and fear towards authorities are making the situation worst.
not sure if she whacked the principal or what.........
apparently no....... because dun even bother to meet up.......... wanna use computer send email for everything.........
Very difficult to buy this story
something missing.....
With mother like that I am glad we have Compulsory Education Act to ensure our next generation receive proper education....
When my daughter was in her primary 4 (10 yrs old), due to some school issues, I requested for her to sit for her SA2 (final year exam) in the school’s General Office.
It was due to unresolved school issues that I decided to homeschool my daughter. By shielding her from the pressures faced in school,
Well, you cite school issues a few times...
If you believed your child is being bullied, then you could change school if you believe the current school does not do anything...
If you believed your child is being framed by teaching staffs then you could raise the matters to MOE...
If you believed your child has some problem and needs to receive special attention then you could try sending her to a special school...
i believe the parent has some problem and needs to receive special attention
i totally agree with fireice - parent have problem and need special attention !!!! call police !!!
parent - seem to think that their children have problem - and need special treatment - without proper medical or official documents.
Parent paranoid - insist the school make special arrangement which would have been unfair to other students. End up denied her child of the needed education !!! - call police !!!
Dear madm Tan,
Your writing skill is super, however you did not tell us what are the ''' school issue''.
In your lengthly explaination of your ''dire situation'', you're telling us everybody and everything else is wrong, except you. The school is wrong for causing the ''school issue'', the school principle is wrong, the CEU is wrong and the police is wrong, etc, etc, etc.
I remembered when I was in primary 3-4 I was bullied by my mat classmates all the way when I went into the elite class. (Me old last time no EM3 such thing.) Even in pri 5-6 elitie, I got dispecised by my form teacher. However, I still got straight As with 3 stars for my PSLE.
You get what I trying to say? Let your child go thru the ''school of hard knocks''. She will get stronger in the process. Staying at home will not help her develop her interacting skill.
Send her back to school pls for god sake.
Agree with Laksa Seehum..
Mdm Tan,
Send your kid back to school.. Whatever disagreement you have with school or the edu system here, you are using your kid's education and her future as a gambling chip against whatever people you have problem with. At the end, your kid is the greatest loser because you fail as a parent! She had no formal education since Pri 4, from what you describe....
Actually after reading this topic a bit more.. I am more concerned would agree with other forumers that the parent needs some kind of help or attention. The story does not seem right even though it does not tell the complete picture of the problem... She said no contact for 5 years! At Pri 4 had problems, kid left school and homeschool. That is about 10 years old, at 12 called for PSLE and did not put kid back in school, didn't take PSLE... now 15 years old, still no PSLE. She should be in secondary, sec 3 now! So, there had been contacts made!
If police report was made, then it must have been contacts made and something serious was discovered. Or the kid or parent cannot be found!! Something is really very wrong and maybe its true the kid needs protection? Of all things, from the parent? Child protection is a big matter. The recent case of Sweden detaining a foreigner from Malaysia for beating their kids is one example. For people who think we need to be very "advanced" like Sweden or Finland, I think they are just selective when they criticise our system. Maybe in Sweden, this case the arrest already done rather than just police want to talk and chat and drink tea...
But truly, Mdm Tan, whether you are desparate, in "dire situation", you are not telling the complete picture.. maybe you are not lying but just didn't really tell everything correctly. Maybe you suddenly use this sgforum to try to justify yourself and like the forumer earlier said, to show that every one else the school, MOE, police is wrong... The way your story is that does not look like the case...
Maybe you have already "robbed" you kid of basic primary school education if you don't do something now, whether to you it is the right thing or not. Thats why police is called? Hope you take the advice given from forumers. But expect your kid to have problems going back to Pri 6 at 15 years old. Pri 6 if you had properly schooled her at home. If not, Pri 4? She will have a lot of other emotion issues to deal with among lots younger kids... But, this is your fault really!! I don't know how you will explain to her when she become an adult why you didn't give her the education she deserve and how she should later take care of her own kids education... good luck there!
Your daughter did not sit for PSLE and now she is 15!? How can you as a parent allow things to carry on without ensuring that the issue is resolved until it has reached this stage? This is ridiculous.
maybe wanna migrate leh?
wan migrate need to wait for many years...?
5 years wor...
To migrate you also need an education to survive. When apply to migrate the country's immigration will first ask for education and skills. They won't take someone who will become a burden to them in the future.. They need to bring value. The countries not stupid. Can't understand, Talib an assassinate little girls who want to learn, go to school, down here got parents don't send their kids to school because they have their opinions... Very selfish attitude. All the advice here should be the "Food for thought" you talking about...
MIA liao
Originally posted by Laksa Seehum:Dear madm Tan,
Your writing skill is super, however you did not tell us what are the ''' school issue''.
In your lengthly explaination of your ''dire situation'', you're telling us everybody and everything else is wrong, except you. The school is wrong for causing the ''school issue'', the school principle is wrong, the CEU is wrong and the police is wrong, etc, etc, etc.
I remembered when I was in primary 3-4 I was bullied by my mat classmates all the way when I went into the elite class. (Me old last time no EM3 such thing.) Even in pri 5-6 elitie, I got dispecised by my form teacher. However, I still got straight As with 3 stars for my PSLE.
You get what I trying to say? Let your child go thru the ''school of hard knocks''. She will get stronger in the process. Staying at home will not help her develop her interacting skill.
Send her back to school pls for god sake.
Not every child is suitable for the cookie cutter school system in SG. Some children thrive better in alternative school settings.
And no it's not ok to allow your child to be bullied at school. You are only enabling the bullies and perpetuating the problem. Bullies themselves are often psychologically damaged and should be dealt with swiftly.
Originally posted by jojobeach:Not every child is suitable for the cookie cutter school system in SG. Some children thrive better in alternative school settings.
And no it's not ok to allow your child to be bullied at school. You are only enabling the bullies and perpetuating the problem. Bullies themselves are often psychologically damaged and should be dealt with swiftly.
Are you sure? Then how is TS's kid going to learn to socialise and mantain relationships with other people?