In the second part of a series where CNA reporters shadow various school professionals for a day, a discipline master at Yuhua Primary School shows what it means to him to care for children - and who is a far cry from the type of discipline master many people might remember.
SINGAPORE: It is still dark when the first school bus pulls up to Yuhua Primary School at 6.30am, its loud rattling noise breaking the early morning silence.
Above the chatter, one boy could be heard saying: “Mr Musa, have you seen my YouTube video? I make Legos in it!”As this reporter watched the children rush up to Mr Musa, I was surprised. It was a far cry from my own experience back when I was a young student. Going up to chat with her was more likely to end up with a warning about how socks were supposed to be above the ankles or how hair should not be below the eyebrows, rather than a casual conversation about our day.While each exchange is no more than a few minutes long, the 51-year-old believes that it goes a long way, especially when it comes to instilling positive behaviour in children.
It has been nearly two decades since the former policeman decided to hang up his uniform for a career in teaching, but the lessons he learnt from his experience in law enforcement remain relevant in his current job. However, instead of confronting the boy about his poor attendance, he decided to give him something to do instead.
“The students are generally very well-behaved,” said Mr Musa. “They know what is expected of them and they put in effort to do the right thing.” Mr Musa works closely with teachers in school to role model positive discipline aligned to the school culture of care. He added that this was done after much deliberation and consultation with school leaders and the students’ teachers.
However, with children having greater access to social media today, Mr Musa is venturing into uncharted waters. With children having greater access to social media, this has created new challenges for Mr Musa when it comes to instilling discipline in his students. “When he first came into the school, he was stepping on teachers’ feet, pushing them away and at one point, he even spat at some teachers but we recognised that the child needed time to learn,” he said, adding that the child had special needs and did not come from a positive environment.
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