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Teachers' liability in school discipline and pupil injuries
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Type
Thesis
Author
Ng, Lee Huat
Supervisor
Gopinathan, Saravanan
Abstract
Legal action against teachers or school authorities has been common in many developed countries. In Singapore, such cases are still rather rare. However, with increases in the general education level of the population, the modernization of the Singapore society, increase in the number and variety in school activities and the successful government policy in the past of encouraging small families, it can be expected that litigation against the schools and teachers will increase. As a result, teachers and school administrators should be well prepared for such a trend by equipping themselves with an adequate understanding of their legal duties and responsibilities.
For this dissertation, two important areas of teachers' liability have been chosen. These are school discipline and pupil injuries.
The dissertation contains seven chapters.
Chapter One puts forward the rationale for teachers in Singapore to be aware of the legal implications of their job and the necessity for them to be prepared with regard to relevant legal knowledge.
Chapter Two is the methodology chapter. It includes discussion of some of the problems encountered during the process of data collection and the organization and delimitation of this dissertation.
Chapter Three is a report on a survey conducted on teachers' perception of such issues and their knowledge of some of the existing statutes and regulations. The results indicated that Singapore teachers were not sufficiently trained in such aspects of their work and that essential information was not easily available to them.
Chapter Four provides a brief description of the legal system of Singapore, its background and the present court system. It also includes an explanation of certain related legal concepts such as the doctrine of binding precedents, tort, negligence etc. The relationship between the legal systems of Singapore and England is briefly explained to give the reasons for and to advance the possibility of using English precedents for Singapore cases.
Chapter Five examines teachers' rights and liabilities in several areas of school discipline. It starts with an account of the general state of discipline in Singapore schools, teachers' perceptions and feelings regarding discipline and the present authority of teachers in dealing with discipline problems. The rest of this chapter focuses on four of the major topics of school discipline, namely school rules, discipline outside school premises, the issues of corporal punishment, detention and dismissal of pupils. For each topic, existing statutes, rules and regulations were thoroughly searched. Due to the lack of Singapore precedents, relevant foreign precedents, mainly from England, are used to construct a general framework for Singapore teachers.
The first part of Chapter Six is concerned with the standard of care required of teachers by the common law. This is followed by an examination of teachers' liabilities when pupil injuries occur while school premises, during tours and excursions, during school maintenance activities and when running errands. For each, the existing statutes and regulations are presented with illustrations by court precedents.
Chapter Seven provides the conclusions of the analysis and recommendations to be considered by the Ministry of Education.
For this dissertation, two important areas of teachers' liability have been chosen. These are school discipline and pupil injuries.
The dissertation contains seven chapters.
Chapter One puts forward the rationale for teachers in Singapore to be aware of the legal implications of their job and the necessity for them to be prepared with regard to relevant legal knowledge.
Chapter Two is the methodology chapter. It includes discussion of some of the problems encountered during the process of data collection and the organization and delimitation of this dissertation.
Chapter Three is a report on a survey conducted on teachers' perception of such issues and their knowledge of some of the existing statutes and regulations. The results indicated that Singapore teachers were not sufficiently trained in such aspects of their work and that essential information was not easily available to them.
Chapter Four provides a brief description of the legal system of Singapore, its background and the present court system. It also includes an explanation of certain related legal concepts such as the doctrine of binding precedents, tort, negligence etc. The relationship between the legal systems of Singapore and England is briefly explained to give the reasons for and to advance the possibility of using English precedents for Singapore cases.
Chapter Five examines teachers' rights and liabilities in several areas of school discipline. It starts with an account of the general state of discipline in Singapore schools, teachers' perceptions and feelings regarding discipline and the present authority of teachers in dealing with discipline problems. The rest of this chapter focuses on four of the major topics of school discipline, namely school rules, discipline outside school premises, the issues of corporal punishment, detention and dismissal of pupils. For each topic, existing statutes, rules and regulations were thoroughly searched. Due to the lack of Singapore precedents, relevant foreign precedents, mainly from England, are used to construct a general framework for Singapore teachers.
The first part of Chapter Six is concerned with the standard of care required of teachers by the common law. This is followed by an examination of teachers' liabilities when pupil injuries occur while school premises, during tours and excursions, during school maintenance activities and when running errands. For each, the existing statutes and regulations are presented with illustrations by court precedents.
Chapter Seven provides the conclusions of the analysis and recommendations to be considered by the Ministry of Education.
Date Issued
1987
Call Number
LB3012 Ng
Date Submitted
1987