Temasek Poly catches students vaping during trial of detectors

Interest growing for such sensors amid rise in efforts to deter vaping on school grounds

- Zaihan Mohamed Yusof and Elisha Tushara

Temasek Polytechnic (TP) has caught several students vaping during a recent trial of detectors on campus, in a bid to curb the use of e-vaporisers.

The students faced disciplinary action, said a TP spokeswoman, without providing further details.

The polytechnic is currently assessing the effectiveness of the vape detectors and how suitable they are for wider use, amid growing interest from schools and organisations here in such sensors.

The insights from TP's trial will support ongoing efforts to deter vaping on school grounds, including stepped-up security patrols, the spokeswoman said in response to queries from The Sunday Times.

The vaping scourge has also seen schools in countries like Britain and the United States using vape sensors to catch students, as more teenagers pick up vapes and e-cigarettes.

Republic Polytechnic (RP) said it does not have plans to install vape detectors on campus.

Singapore Polytechnic (SP) said that it will "continue to assess the use of vape detection systems as part of ongoing measures to tackle vaping".

Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) did not respond to queries about whether they have similar plans.

Vape detectors, which are generally the size of a saucer, work by monitoring a room's air quality by sensing smoke, vape aerosols and particulates.

Innotec Solutions, a local company promoting vape detectors, said the number of inquiries for its vape detectors has doubled in the last five weeks.

Its spokesman, Mr Wilbert Tan, said: "I think schools are now more open to the idea of using technology as a countermeasure against vaping."

In the last few months, his company has installed vape detectors for a polytechnic, an international school and several secondary schools.

A check online shows there are five companies that sell vape detectors in Singapore.