A 12-month conditional warning was issued to the former preschool teacher at Kinderland @ Sunshine Place in Choa Chu Kang, who was seen smacking a boy on the head several times and pushing him away in a video.

The former teacher at Kinderland @ Woodlands Mart has been charged with one count of ill-treatment of a child or young person following investigations by the Singapore Police Force. Her court case is still pending.

Kinderland was also given a total penalty of S$10,000, with a S$5,000 fine for the incidents at each centre.

In a press release published by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) on Feb. 20, 2024, they said,

"Kinderland's headquarters had failed to exercise effective oversight over its centres’ staff training and supervision."

Videos surfaced in August 2023

Videos surfaced in August 2023 showing two teachers allegedly mistreating children under their care in Kinderland preschools.

The first revolved around a former teacher, 33, at Kinderland @ Woodlands Mart, who is facing one charge of ill-treating a 23-month-old girl by forcing her to lie down and pouring water into her mouth.

Soon after, another video showed a 48-year-old preschool teacher allegedly ill-treating a boy at Kinderland @ Sunshine Place in Choa Chu Kang.

ECDA said following "the child mismanagement incidents", they reviewed the report by an Independent Review Committee (IRC) commissioned by Kinderland to examine the centre's child mismanagement and took action against the teachers and their centre leaders.

Kinderland HQ Failed to Oversee its Centres Properly: ECDA

Kinderland was given a total penalty of S$10,000, with a S$5,000 fine for the incidents at each centre.

Licenses for both centres were also shortened from 36 to six months under close monitoring by ECDA.

Kinderland’s recent application to add a new centre to the Partner Operator Scheme (POP) was also rejected by ECDA.

The scheme helps increase accessibility, affordability and quality of childcare and infant care services.

ECDA said they have "directed Kinderland HQ to ensure all corrective actions are properly implemented in all its centres and sustained to prevent recurrence of similar incidents."

ECDA said they will continue to limit Kinderland's licence tenures to 6 months to ensure that the corrective measures directed by ECDA are sustained.

They will also closely monitor all Kinderland centres through measures such as having more frequent unannounced checks on their classroom management practices.

Kinderland's current license is to expire in March 2024.

“ECDA has zero tolerance for inappropriate management of children in our preschools. All operators, centres and educators are expected to do their part to keep children safe,” said Chief Executive Officer of ECDA, Tan Chee Wee.

Robust improvements made to existing child management systems: Kinderland

Kinderland released their statement on the same day in response to ECDA's press release, stating that they are committed to working with ECDA, parents and community partners " to prevent repeats of such incidents".

They said they "made robust improvements to three of its existing child management systems, namely the Teacher Training Monitoring System (TTMS), Child Management Monitoring System (CMMS) and the Whistle Blowing System (WBS)."

Kinderland also "wholeheartedly" apologised to the affected families.

"As a longstanding provider of early childhood education for over four decades and as responsible stewards of the community, we also regret the collective concern this episode has raised among parents and the general public."

"The incidents from 2023 were a sobering reminder of the challenges that come with maintaining high standards of child management," Kinderland said, adding that through the additional enhancements, they "want to assure parents and members of the public that proper child management measures have been put in place".

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