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A blog written by one of them revealed that they even visited his home during Chinese New Year a few years ago.

Under his guidance, a uniformed group he led was transformed into an award-winning outfit.

But the bespectacled man is now accused of committing a serious offence - that of being a peeping Tom.

The New Paper understands that the teacher had allegedly installed three pinhole cameras in a girls' toilet in his school, which is in the western part of Singapore.

Sources told TNP that one of the cameras was discovered by a student who went to the toilet on Wednesday.

It is believed that she alerted a staff member, who later found two more similar devices in other cubicles in the same toilet.

TNP understands that the staff member took the cameras to the staffroom and later left the room.

The staff member returned and found the cameras missing from the staffroom.

When footage from a closed-circuit television camera installed in the staffroom was checked, it showed the male teacher walking away with the devices.

Sources said the school alerted the police about the incident on Thursday. The teacher, who is believed to be married, was then arrested.

When contacted yesterday, the school said it could not comment as the police are investigating the case.

Its spokesman said: "The school will continue to monitor the well-being of the staff and students and provide support to staff and students who might be affected by the incident."

TNP understands that the school's principal assured all students during an assembly yesterday that the school is safe and secure.

The principal added that all the toilets had been checked and no more devices were found, and advised students not to speculate on the matter.

The suspect is the latest of a number of teachers who got into trouble with the law in recent months.

Technology to blame?

A retired primary school teacher, Madam Juriah Idris, said that advancements in technology could be partly to blame for the teachers' indiscretions.

"I first started teaching in 1967. I had never heard of cases of teachers being hauled to court for misbehaving up to my retirement in 2003.

"But recently, it seems that more and more teachers are doing things they shouldn't."

Madam Juriah, 62, said that social networking websites have made it very easy for teachers and students to communicate with one another outside school.

"I think the downside to this is that some teachers may be tempted to take their professional relationship with students a step further. This, I think, is a huge no-no."

The mother of three adult sons also felt that many young girls are becoming more sexually aware.

She said: "I think that nowadays, some teenage girls can be quite flirtatious with their male teachers. So it is their parents' duty to tell them to behave themselves and respect their teachers."

A secondary school teacher who declined to be named said that teachers who have been hauled to court have tarnished the good name of those in the teaching fraternity.

The father of two teenage daughters, however, said that the teacher who allegedly installed the pinhole cameras could have done so as he was stressed at work.

He said: "Teaching is a very stressful job and I guess the guy could have done it because he could not handle the workload. If this was the case, then I feel quite sorry for him.

"But still, there are other ways to relieve stress. Teachers are supposed to be role models for our students. We are not supposed to be perverts and criminals."

Students contacted by TNP were shocked when told of the pinhole cameras.

Michelle Yeoh, a 14-year-old student at Beatty Secondary School, said: "I can't believe that a teacher in Singapore could install pinhole cameras in a girls' toilet in his school.

"Teachers are supposed to be morally upright. I'm very shocked."

Her schoolmate, Shelia Loewito, 15, piped in: "I would definitely scream if I spotted a camera in the toilet. After that, I would inform my teacher about it.

"I think I could be traumatised if it really happened to me. Maybe I should check the toilet carefully in the future before doing anything."

Educators in trouble

ON SUNDAY, news broke about a former primary school principal who is believed to be one of the clients of an online vice syndicate.

He resigned in December. Those who knew the married man, who is in his late 30s, said he was well-mannered and eloquent.

But he is not the only educator here who ran afoul of the law.

Jailed eight years

A former secondary school teacher, 42, was sentenced to eight years' jail on Jan 17 for having sex with a student, then 14. He pleaded guilty last December to five charges of having sex with a girl under the age of 16. The 18-month affair started in late 2007.

Charged with sex offences

A former teacher, 38, was hauled to court last October for allegedly performing oral sex on a boy, nine, in 2009 in a primary school in the east. He is also accused of molesting two other boys in the same school that year.

The pre-trial conference for this case will be held on March 7.

Jailed 10 months

On June 10, a former teacher, 25, was jailed for 10 months for having sex with a student, then 15, in her home. He went to her home when her parents were out and had sex with her consent on May 20, 2010.