A 48-year-old teacher who allegedly mistreated children at the Kinderland preschool at Sunshine Place in Choa Chu Kang has been put on a leave of absence.
Additionally, action was also taken against the centre and another two of its teachers.
Report on Aug. 29, 2023
The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said in a Sep. 4, 2023 media release that it received two reports of "child mismanagement" at the Kinderland preschool at Sunshine Place.
One of the reports was lodged on Aug. 29, 2023 about an educator who was seen pushing a five-year old child forcefully.
ECDA did not identify the educator and labelled the educator as "C".
Mothership understands that the report was related to the aforementioned 48-year-old teacher who was arrested after a video of her allegedly smacking and pushing a boy emerged on Aug. 29, 2023.
ECDA added that the police also received a report regarding C, and that investigations by ECDA and the police are still ongoing.
In the meantime, the 48-year-old teacher has been placed on leave of absence.
Report on Jun. 1, 2023
ECDA received the other report on Jun. 1, 2023 from a parent of a two-year-old child previously enrolled in Kinderland Sunshine Place.
The parent withdrew their child from the preschool in May 2023.
ECDA said the case is "an already concluded case".
Incident happened in April 2023
ECDA's investigations revealed that the incident happened in April 2023.
Two Kinderland Sunshine Place educators admitted to strapping a child in his chair on several occasions.
ECDA did not identify the educators and labelled them "D" and "E".
D and E claimed that they strapped the child to get him to focus on the activity, and to prevent him from hurting himself and other children.
The straps were taken from an infant seat used in the centre's infant care bay.
ECDA said it instructed the centre to immediately stop this practice and ensure all its educators adopt appropriate methods and work closely with parents to manage each child's behaviour.
ECDA said: "We also issued stern reminders' under the EDC Regulations to the preschool and two educators for failing to use positive and developmentally appropriate methods to manage the child."
The centre was informed that more severe actions would be taken against them should a similar incident happen again in the future.
ECDA updated the parent on the results of its investigation and that action was taken against the centre, D and E.
But it did not specify exactly what were the actions it took.
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Top image from Len Lin/Google Maps and from Mothership readers