28-8-2023 (SINGAPORE) A teacher has been dismissed after allegedly mistreating several children at a preschool in Woodlands, sparking investigations by both the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). This comes after three videos showing the teacher’s interactions with children were shared on social media.
In two of the videos, the teacher can be seen handling children roughly as she attempts to force them to drink water. One child is heard crying loudly as she tries to tilt their head backward. In another video, the teacher places a child on the floor and appears to pour water into their mouth. The third video shows the teacher shouting at a child and striking them multiple times with a book.
The incidents are reported to have occurred at Kinderland Preschool @ Woodlands Mart. Following the circulation of the videos, Kinderland Singapore commented on their Facebook page, saying, “We have received your feedback. At this time, we ask for privacy for the affected families.”
As of Monday evening, two Facebook posts containing the videos had been shared over 22,000 times, with one video receiving more than 800,000 views.
Sembawang GRC Member of Parliament Poh Li San commented on one of the posts, stating that “Such unprofessional and harsh actions to the poor children cannot be condoned.” She further mentioned that she is assisting affected parents and children, and the teacher has been dismissed while investigations by ECDA and the police are ongoing.
An ECDA spokesperson confirmed that the teacher has been dismissed and stated, “ECDA has instructed the preschool operator to provide close guidance and support to their teachers in classroom management, and will continue to work closely with the centre to ensure the safety and well-being of enrolled children.”
ECDA emphasized that the safety and well-being of children in preschools are of utmost importance and assured that they take child mismanagement cases seriously.
The mother of one of the children seen in the footage expressed her shock and distress upon discovering the alleged abuse. She recalled an incident where her son, who had been attending the preschool since he was five or six months old, had displayed sadness upon seeing the teacher in the morning. The mother intends to lodge a police report.
Notably, the preschool does not have any surveillance cameras in place.
