MY SON, who is in Secondary 4 at Victoria School, was injured in school during physical education (PE) lessons. The incident resulted in him suffering a broken wrist bone which requires two operations.

The medical bill (hospitalisation and subsequent treatment) for the first operation came up to about $9,000 and his upcoming one may cost the same if not more.

The school insurance scheme does not fully cover the medical expenses. The school principal and my son's form teacher have been most helpful and have tried to reach a claim settlement. But the school official who is supposed to help me with the claim has not responded to my appeal for help. To date, the claim is still being processed and this would be a financial burden to any cash-strapped family.

I, therefore, feel there is a need to alert all parents in Singapore that sending our children to school does not mean they are in the safe hands of teachers. The school principal told me the accident that occurred on April 2 could have been prevented had the PE teacher not left the field after instructing the boys to play soccer.

This was not an isolated case. I learnt much later, to my dismay, that he used to instruct the boys to play soccer by themselves when he was not on the field.

I called the Ministry of Education (MOE) twice but received no reply. As a traumatised parent, I strongly feel the need to offer my constructive feedback to MOE, that this statement - 'consideration for student safety should take precedence at all times' - should be incorporated in the teachers' handbook and teachers should be reminded periodically about safety measures.

Sylvia Seah (Mdm)

This article was first published in The Straits Times.