A former Kinderland teacher has come out to admit that she was the one who filmed the videos of the other Kinderland teacher allegedly abusing children at the preschool.
Known as Teacher B, she made the admission to CNA and confirmed that she filmed the videos featuring Teacher A, despite telling the preschool previously she did not take the videos of the incidents or post them online.
Multiple videos went viral on social media depicting Teacher A's actions.
One video showed Teacher A roughly forcing a crying boy's head backwards to get him to drink water and scolding him.
In another video, the same teacher scolded a boy and hit him repeatedly on the buttocks with a book.
A third video showed the teacher pulling a little girl forcefully and pinching her cheeks to get her to drink water.
The videos were apparently taken at different times, as the teacher appeared to be dressed differently in each video.
Teacher B felt she was not taken seriously by principal
Teacher B also said in the Aug. 30 CNA piece that she felt she was not taken seriously when she spoke to the principal of Kinderland regarding this issue.
She also said she talked to the principal, Mahirah Yasid, twice about Teacher A's treatment of students.
When speaking to the principal, Teacher B did not mention the videos but told her that the alleged abuse was "not the first time" and similar incidents were "ongoing".
The response from the principal was that Teacher A had been with the school for years, and Teacher B felt that the principal did not believe her, CNA reported.
Teacher B added that she decided to film the incidents at her husband's advice as there were no CCTV cameras in the room.
"Every time I saw what [Teacher A] was doing, I would take the child away [from] the so-called punishment. But she would forcefully take the child back, and tell me, 'I'm not done with what I'm doing'," she told CNA.
"I feel very bad for the child. I don't want my children to have this kind of treatment from teachers too."
Teacher B, 37, resigned on Jul. 29, 2023, within three months of starting work.
In Kinderland's statement, the school said Teacher B did not mention any "dissatisfaction" and cited her wanting to care for her ailing mother as the reason for her resignation.
Kinderland's disciplinary inquiry committee reached out to Teacher B, and she did not admit to taking the videos of the incident.
Instead, she said she saw the videos from her friends.
Shared video with Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA)
CNA reported that on Aug. 28, Teacher B shared the videos with a group chat for mothers.
This was after she shared them earlier with Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), she said, according to CNA.
She explained that she did not make the videos public once they were filmed, as she did not want to jeopadise her job at the preschool.
Teacher charged and remanded at IMH
On Aug. 30, a teacher, 33, was charged with ill-treatment of a child.
She has been identified as Lin Min, who worked at the Kinderland preschool outlet in Woodlands, and has been remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for medical examination.
Lin was dismissed on Aug. 28, and Kindlerland said she was "remorseful and apologised for her behaviour for those few times".
Kinderland has also reached out to affected parents and children to apologise.
The school shared that two of the affected children are currently "doing well," but the third child, a girl, allegedly "woke up screaming" on Aug. 28.
ECDA has released a statement on safeguarding the safety and well-being of children in preschools.
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