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From My Paper: RGPS students made to stand at assembly for months By Samantha Boh My Paper Thursday, Oct 17, 2013 SINGAPORE - For being "too talkative", a class of Primary 2 pupils from Raffles Girls' Primary School (RGPS) were made to stand for 15 minutes during every assembly. This went on for three months, and raised the ire of a parent. The school's vice-principal has now admitted that the punishment was "excessive". Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday that the incident came to light when the father of one of the girls heard what was happening and visited the school to see for himself. "Three months is too long for any parent to accept. I believe the rest of the parents do not know about this," he was quoted as saying. The punishment reportedly began in July, when a teacher chided the class of 29 pupils for talking too much during assembly. They were then made to stand from 12.30pm to 12.45pm during every assembly, before being allowed to sit like the rest of their schoolmates. RGPS vice-principal Choong Pek Lan told My Paper that the punishment was "excessive", and was not commonly used by teachers at the school. Both the school and the Education Ministry are looking into the matter. MP Baey Yam Keng, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, described the punishment as "embarrassing for the students". But he added that schools should not shy away from disciplining pupils who misbehave. "There needs to be a balance," he said. [email protected] Get My Paper for more stories. - See more at: http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/rgps-students-made-stand-assembly-months#sthash.KINBLzJt.dpuf (Source: http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/rgps-students-made-stand-assembly-months )