Lin Min, 33, a former Kinderland preschool teacher, has been barred from working in the preschool sector and issued a warning, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said.

She was charged in court on Aug. 30 with ill-treating a 23-month-old child on June 30 afternoon at Kinderland Preschool at Woodlands Mart.

She allegedly forced the girl to lie down and poured water into her mouth, the charge sheet showed.

The preschool fired her on Aug. 28, after videos of her alleged actions made the rounds online.

She was arrested on the same day in the evening after a police report was lodged in the afternoon.

Centre leader and preschool operator being investigated: ECDA

ECDA added that the centre leader and preschool operator are being investigated and further actions may be taken if they are "deemed not to have fulfilled their duty of care to the children".

ECDA was alerted to the incidents by a former employee and started its investigation on Aug. 10.

A former preschool teacher who filmed the incidents said she provided ECDA with the videos.

She had also spoken to the preschool's principal but felt she was not taken seriously.

ECDA said: "We have since determined that the educator involved in the incidents had used highly inappropriate methods to manage the children in her care."

Two preschool teachers arrested

Lin was one of two preschool teachers arrested within the span of one day.

The other was another woman who was arrested on Aug. 29, after she was linked to the alleged mistreatment of a child at another Kinderland centre, this time at Sunshine Place in Choa Chu Kang.

ECDA said it was alerted to the second incident on Aug. 29 and it is investigating.

Corporal punishment not allowed

ECDA has the power to fine the preschool operator, shorten a preschool's licence tenure, or revoke it, if operators have not taken adequate measures to ensure that their educators use "positive and developmentally appropriate methods to manage children’s behaviour".

The agency can also issue directions to the preschool to put in place measures to improve.

The Early Childhood Development Centres Act and Regulations state that the use of corporal punishment or any other inappropriate child management practices in preschools are prohibited.

Educators or preschool operators can be taken to task for not fulfilling their duty of care to the children under their charge.

Cases involving educators with clear intent to harm the child will be referred to the police.

Warning letters will be issued to educators who use inappropriate child management practices.

Educators can be barred from working in the preschool sector if they are found to have committed serious acts of child mismanagement.

Preschool operators are to take adequate measures to ensure that their educators use "positive and developmentally appropriate methods to manage children’s behaviour", or else ECDA can take regulatory action.

Top photo of Kinderland Preschool at Woodlands Mart via Julia Yee