SINGAPORE - We thank Mr Ben Yeong for his query ("Background check on relief teachers?", last Tuesday).
The Ministry of Education has pre-employment and pre-registration procedures in place to ensure the suitability of individuals to teach in schools.
Our checks show that Asogan Sokkalingam had failed to declare his prior offences and convictions, as required in the pre-registration process.
However, the ministry did not pick this up because of a lapse in our procedures.
We are tightening our procedures to prevent a similar occurrence.
Clarence Tang
Director, HR Solutions and Capabilities
Ministry of Education
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