Singapore¡¯s education minister has condemned a ¡°manifestly inadequate¡± response to a case of sexual misconduct on campus, in an intervention set to embroil all of the island¡¯s universities.

The episode, involving an undergraduate who allegedly filmed a fellow student in a college shower at the National University of Singapore, has drawn thousands of signatories to online petitions.

The perpetrator, a chemical engineering student, was suspended for a semester and incurred other sanctions including exclusion from campus housing and 30 hours¡¯ community service. He also received a 12-month conditional warning from the police.

But the university stopped short of booting him out, with vice-provost Florence Ling explaining that NUS pursued a ¡°second strike and you are out¡± policy for instances of sexual misconduct.

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¡°We want to give the students a chance,¡± she said in a statement reported by the?Straits Times. ¡°Student offenders who appear before the board of discipline for the first time are given a range of punishments, but not immediate expulsion.¡±

The victim, communications student Monica Baey, has called for ¡°real consequences¡­so other potential perpetrators will know they face punishment¡±. Now education minister Ong Ye Kung has intervened in a 22 April?Facebook post.

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¡°Two strikes and you are out cannot be the standard application,¡± he insisted. ¡°For offences that affect the safety of students on campus, we have to take a tough stand and send a strong signal to everyone.¡±

Mr Ong¡¯s comments come after NUS promised to review its disciplinary and support frameworks for cases of sexual misconduct. Dean of students Peter Pang said that a committee would ¡°study the approaches taken by other international institutions and solicit views from various stakeholders¡±.

The university said that the committee would be led by barrister Kay Kuok, a member of the NUS board of trustees, and would include NUS president Tan Eng Chye. ¡°We note the strong public interest in this matter,¡± it said in a?. ¡°The committee will proceed swiftly and decisively.¡±

Mr Ong predicted that the NUS review would spawn ¡°a more robust process and stricter framework¡±. He said that he had asked other universities to review their frameworks for similar offences.

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Two online petitions,??demanding stiffer penalties and??calling for police to reopen the case, have collectively garnered more than?50,000 signatures. A separate ¡°¡± issued by almost 500 NUS students says that the punishment falls short for ¡°one of the world¡¯s top universities¡±.

¡°It signals¡­that survivors of sexual violence and harassment will not receive adequate institutional and social support even if they voice their concerns to the relevant authorities,¡± the statement says.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com