SINGAPORE'S children are among the best cared for, with the lowest infant mortality rate in the world, according to a government report released yesterday.
And as they grow up, fewer are dropping out of school and getting into trouble with the law.
| Govt spending on children rising GOVERNMENT expenditure on children has risen over the years, especially in education, health and social programmes such as the Baby Bonus. Details released yesterday by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) in a report to the United Nations revealed that on education alone, the Government budget in 2007 was $6.5 billion, up from $4.8 billion in 2003. This expenditure was for all levels of education, including for special needs. |
The Government's report to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child, which tracks key developments in child welfare and protection, shows that steps have been made in the right direction between 2003 and 2007 to ensure that children are safe and being educated for the future.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund, Singapore had the world's lowest infant mortality rate at 2.1 per 1,000 live births in 2007.
Measures to help pupils stay in school, such as helping lower primary pupils struggling with English and maths, brought down the dropout rate from 3.2 per cent in 2003 to 1.6 per cent in 2007.
The number of children aged between seven and 15 who were arrested also dropped from 2,637 in 2004 to 2,131 in 2007.
But not all developments have been positive.
The number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases among youngsters aged 10 to 19 has been rising steadily every year, with 820 infected in 2007, more than double the 368 in 2003.
As well as a reflection of increasing sexual activity among youth, the numbers could also be a sign that more are seeking diagnosis.
Furthermore, some children as young as eight are so wayward that their parents request the State to discipline them.
In 2007, the parents of 140 children went to court saying their kids were beyond parental control (BPC). Five were aged between eight and 10.
In 2003, only two of the 164 children considered beyond parental control were in that age group.
Dr Carol Balhetchet, director of youth services at the Singapore Children's Society, observed that more younger children are getting into trouble these days.
Dr Balhetchet, whose agency counsels BPC cases, added: 'Today's young kids, at seven or eight, are bolder and more willing to experiment than the seven- and eight-year-olds a decade ago.'
The report card combines Singapore's second and third updates to the UN. It is a requirement of the Republic's accession to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The report highlights the measures taken by the Government to boost children's social, physical and emotional well-being here.
One of these was to introduce compulsory education in 2003, so that all children born after 1996 have at least six years of schooling.
The Government also amended the Penal Code to give youth more protection from sexual exploitation.
Since February last year, for example, it has been a crime to pay for sex with someone under 18.
Two months ago, a pimp who arranged for a teen from China to prostitute herself in Singapore was jailed for one year.
Last year, the Government also ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which sets the minimum age for compulsory recruitment into the armed forces at 18, among other things.
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