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[UPDATED on Friday, Mar. 10 at 11:00pm: Adding a statement from PlayFACTO School.]

A student care centre and school bus driver failed to notice that a Primary 1 student was missing for almost two hours, causing her to get locked inside a parked bus.

According to a Facebook post on Mar. 7 (Tuesday), the child's mother Iris Law shared that her daughter was only discovered after she knocked on the glass window of the bus to attract attention from passers-by.

She expressed her shock and concern that her daughter had been "left alone, locked and unattended in a school bus for two hours without any food".

What happened

The incident took place on Mar. 2, after her daughter was released from school.

Law said that at about 1:45pm, her daughter was picked up from school by a bus service, which would bring her to the student care centre, PlayFACTO School, located within Orchid Country Club in Yishun.

This arrangement was in place from Monday to Friday, on the recommendation of the student care.

According to Law, the ride from school to the centre would take around 15 minutes.

She says that the bus operator called the student care centre at 3:45pm after they realised that her daughter was still on the bus.

At about 3:56pm, the bus operator called Law to let her know her daughter was left on the bus and that they were on their way back to the student care centre. They arrived at 4pm.

After the call from the bus operator, Law called PlayFACTO School, but she says that the student care was not aware of the missing child until the bus operator reported it.

"Clear lack of ownership, accountability and safety awareness": Law

Law added that the student care had "shunted the blame" to the bus operator, as they had not taken the initiative to call her.

When she tried to clarify the incident with the student care and bus operator, there was a lack of detail and the incident was described "in pieces", she wrote.

Later, she got a clearer understanding of the incident from her daughter.

"The bus driver just drove off after dropping the other kids. (He) parked his bus and went away. He only knew (after) being alerted by someone who saw my gal knock on the window," Law explained in response to a comment on her post.

To her, it was a case of "gross negligence" on the part of the student care centre.

Law said, "there is a serious lapse of safety protocol within the student care. There is a clear lack of ownership, accountability and safety awareness from the student care representatives".

She concluded that there was no proper handover and accounting of students from the school bus to the student care centre, and highlighted that the teacher-in-charge of the class was not aware of the missing child.

Law told CNA she has withdrawn her daughter from PlayFACTO School and that her daughter was okay after the incident.

"We have taken stringent measures to ensure this is not repeated": Student care

PlayFACTO School explained in a statement to Mothership that the student had fallen asleep on the school bus, and the bus driver had failed to check the bus upon returning to the depot.

The school stated that it is taking full responsibility for the incident.

"While we are thankful that the situation was quickly resolved and the student returned home unharmed and in good spirits, we have taken stringent measures to ensure that this incident is not repeated," the school said.

The school added that it understood how worrying such incidents could be for parents, and promised to maintain the highest of standards for each child’s care and education.

According to the school, an investigation was undertaken immediately, and additional protocols have been put in place to enhance the safety and well-being of the school's students.

Additionally, the teacher in charge has been suspended until further notice and the bus operator has been terminated and replaced.

Comments from concerned parents

In the comments section, many netizens expressed their sympathy, including some fellow parents who hoped Law's daughter would not too badly affected by it.

While some questioned the alertness of the bus driver, others felt that student care centres should be regulated more strictly.

One parent offered a practical suggestion for Law to keep closer tabs on her P1 daughter's whereabouts.

To which Law replied:

Top image via PlayFACTO School @ Yishun on Google.