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ECDA admits lapse in handling of Kinderland alleged abuse case; procedures being reviewed

2023-09-08 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE – The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has acknowledged that there was a lapse in its handling of the Woodlands Mart child mismanagement case, and said it is reviewing its systems and processes.

In a statement issued on Monday, ECDA said it began investigations into the case on Aug 11, a day after a whistle-blower provided the agency with video evidence.

The case in question came to public attention on Aug 28, after videos of a teacher at Kinderland’s Woodlands Mart pre-school forcing children to drink water and hitting a child on the buttocks with a book were circulated on social media and messaging platforms.

ECDA said its officer had assessed that sufficient supervisory measures were put in place by the pre-school to mitigate the risk to the safety of the children while investigations were ongoing.

However, the officer failed to immediately remove the teacher from classroom duties, which is the established protocol for cases with clear evidence that a child’s safety is endangered.

ECDA chief executive Tan Chee Wee said: “ECDA should have done better. We apologise for not getting Kinderland to immediately remove the educator from her classroom role while investigations are ongoing.”

The agency is reviewing its systems and procedures to strengthen them and ensure better oversight of cases under investigation, he added.

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On Monday, ECDA said it has instructed Kinderland headquarters to conduct an independent review of child management practices in all its pre-schools, and to report to ECDA on its findings and recommendations within three months.

“During this period, ECDA will also place all pre-schools under Kinderland on close monitoring and conduct more frequent unannounced checks on their classroom management practices.”

The agency also provided an update on its investigations into recent incidents at the two Kinderland centres that have come under the spotlight: the one at Woodlands Mart and another centre in Choa Chu Kang.

Remote video URL

Cases at Kinderland in Woodlands Mart

ECDA said it has issued a warning to the pre-school, imposed a $5,000 penalty on the operator and reduced its licence tenure to six months with immediate effect, given the severity of the two incidents.

In the incident that went viral, the behaviour depicted in the video clip showed a breach of the Early Childhood Development Centres Regulations (ECDC), it said. Among other things, the law prohibits force-feeding and hitting a child.

Former pre-school teacher Lin Min, 33 was charged in court last Wednesday with ill-treating a child, an offence under the Children and Young Persons Act.

The Singaporean woman is accused of committing the offence at the pre-school shortly before 4pm on June 30.

ECDA said the educator involved was issued a warning under the ECDC, and has been barred from working in the pre-school sector.