The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said earlier today that they are investigating the centre leader and operator of a Kinderland Preschool branch for the roles they played in the recent case of children being ill-treated, according to a report by The Straits Times.
This comes in the wake of a 33-year-old former preschool teacher Lin Min being arrested and charged for the ill-treatment of toddler(s), as seen in viral videos circulating online; as well as the arrest of another 48-year-old woman for similar offences after she was seen in circulating videos repeatedly beating a boy on the head.
Both women were employees of the same Kinderland preschools albeit under different branches – Kinderland Woodlands Mart is registered as “K-Joy Educare Pte Ltd” while the other preschool at Choa Chu Kang is registered as “EQ-Learners Educare Pte Ltd” under the same operator.
Snippet of ECDA’s statement
Incidents of Inappropriate Child Management at K-Joy Educare Pte Ltd
In the case of K-Joy Educare Pte Ltd at Woodlands Mart, after being alerted to the incidents by a former employee, ECDA commenced our investigation on 10 August 2023.
We have since determined that the educator involved in the incidents had used highly inappropriate methods to manage the children in her care. She has been issued a warning and barred from working in the preschool sector.
The Police has also arrested her for the offence of ill-treatment of child under the Children and Young Persons Act. ECDA is still investigating the roles of the centre leader and preschool operator in these incidents and may take further actions if they are deemed not to have fulfilled their duty of care to the children.
ECDA is closely monitoring this preschool to ensure the safety and well-being of all enrolled children. The preschool operator has also been instructed to provide close guidance and supervision to their educators on classroom management in this preschool.
Separately, ECDA was alerted on 29 August 2023 to another incident of child mismanagement at EQ-Learners Educare Pte Ltd at Choa Chu Kang, a preschool under the same operator. Both ECDA and the Police are investigating the case and we note that the Police have arrested the educator involved in the incident.
We acknowledge that such incidents have caused grave concern among parents on the safety and well-being of children in our preschools. ECDA will continue to work closely with preschool operators and training providers to ensure our centre leaders and educators understand their duty of care to the children and do their utmost to prevent child mismanagement from happening.
Most of our educators join the sector with a passion to nurture our young children and make a positive impact in their lives. We urge parents to continue supporting them as they work tirelessly in caring and educating our children.