Singapore

The report from Singapore addresses a wide range of discrimination and shows that Singapore has already come a long way in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, health is completely missing from the report, and corporal punishment is widespread and even applied by the state.

The Committee welcomes the information that sex education is compulsory in schools but is concerned that it emphasizes abstinence, contains limited information on contraception and prevention of sexually transmitted infections and lacks a gender perspective. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends that the State party adopt a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents and ensure that the education is gender sensitive, does not discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children and includes the use of contraception, including emergency contraception, and care and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.

While the Committee welcomes the inclusion of all children with moderate to severe special education needs in the Compulsory Education Act, it remains concerned at the insufficient quantitative and qualitative data on children with disabilities and their needs, that some children with disabilities are still not fully included in the education system, the persistence of discriminatory attitudes and behaviours against children with disabilities and that non-Singaporean children with disabilities enjoy less protection than their Singaporean peers. Therefore, the Committee recommends that the State party collect and analyse qualitative and quantitative data on children with disabilities and their special needs and use them for the development of relevant policies and programmes as well as strengthen the implementation of the policy of inclusive education in schools and increase the number of places in preschool for children with moderate to severe special educational needs, without discrimination of any kind. Singapore should further increase the number of teachers and professionals trained on a human rights-based approach in integrated classes that provide individual support and due attention to children with learning difficulties. The Committee further recommends that the State party strengthen awareness-raising campaigns targeting government officials, the public and families to combat stigma attached to and prejudice against children with disabilities and promote a positive image of children with disabilities.

While taking note of the information that economic exploitation of children is low in the State party due to its strong legal safeguards, the Committee is concerned that the State party has not taken sufficient steps to provide a framework for national and international enterprises under its jurisdiction to report in all areas that may affect children’s rights. The Committee recommends that the State party establish and implement regulations to ensure that the business sector complies with international and national human rights, labour, environmental and other standards, particularly with regard to children’s rights. Inter alia, it recommends that the State party establish a clear regulatory framework for companies operating in the State party to ensure that their activities do not negatively affect human rights or endanger environmental and other standards, especially those relating to children’s rights. It should also ensure effective implementation by companies, especially industrial companies, of international and national environment and health standards, effective monitoring of the implementation of those standards and the imposition of appropriate sanctions and provision of remedies when violations occur, and that appropriate international certification is sought.

The Committee is seriously concerned that children aged between 16 and 18 years are still treated as adults in the criminal justice system and may be sentenced to life imprisonment and there is no child-specific pretrial detention limit.
The Committee urges the State party to bring its juvenile justice system fully into line with the Convention and other relevant international standards. It recommends that the State party abolish the sentence of life imprisonment for children under the age of 18 and promptly review the files of all prisoners serving a life sentence for crimes committed when under 18 years of age, with a view to ensuring their early release and ensure that children currently sentenced to life imprisonment receive education, treatment and care aimed at their release, reintegration and ability to play a constructive role in society. Singapore should further ensure that pretrial detention of children is applied only as a measure of last resort and that its application is subject to strict time limitations and regular review by a judge.

The Committee is concerned that the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly are severely restricted in the State party and subject to undue limitations, with serious repercussions on the rights of children to freely express themselves, including on the Internet. The Committee urges the State party to review its laws and policies, in order to ensure full respect for the rights and freedoms guaranteed to children under the Convention, and that any restrictions to those rights fully comply with international standards.

In line with its general comment No. 11 (2009) on indigenous children and their rights under the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to provide equal opportunities for children of minority groups, in particular the Malay, and that it removes all policies that disadvantage or discriminate against minorities.

Concluding observations on the fourth and fifth periodic reports released on 28 June 2019. The Committee regrets the State party’s position not to withdraw any of its declarations to articles 12 to 17, 19 and 37 and reservations to articles 7, 9, 10, 22, 28 and 32 of the Convention. More information about education in Singapore: https://www.moe.gov.sg