Woman accused of abusing 3 babies barred from working in preschools, action taken against staff: ECDA
The babies were aged between eight and 12 months when the alleged offences against them took place.
A view of the entrance to the State Courts building. (File photo: CNA)
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SINGAPORE: The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has barred a woman accused of abusing three babies from working in any preschool, as well as taken action against the preschool's principal and two other staff members.
This comes after the alleged abuser, a 36-year-old Singaporean, was charged on Thursday with three counts of ill-treating babies aged between eight and 12 months at the time.
The former preschool teacher is accused of force-feeding a 12-month-old girl until she vomited, stuffing a bib in an eight-month-old child's mouth and putting a blanket over the child's face, as well as dropping a bumper chair that a 10-month-old child was sitting in.
A gag order, which also covers the incident location, was issued by the court to protect the identities of the victims.
In response to queries from CNA, ECDA said in a statement on Friday (Nov 21) that the preschool was alerted to acts of "child mismanagement" involving the accused on Sep 25, 2024.
After reviewing closed-circuit television footage, the preschool fired the woman the next day and notified ECDA of the case on Sep 27. The preschool also lodged a police report.
Besides barring the educator from working in any preschool, ECDA has also taken action against the centre's principal and two other staff members for breaches of the Early Childhood Development Centres Regulations.
The agency said it was unable to share further details of the regulatory breaches in this case due to ongoing court proceedings.
"Regulatory lapses that compromise children's safety and well-being in preschools are not acceptable," said the ECDA spokesperson, adding that the agency will take firm action against preschool operators or staff found guilty of not fulfilling their duty of care to the children under their charge.
"All preschool operators are required to have robust measures and safeguards to keep children safe. This includes ensuring that educators use developmentally appropriate practices when interacting with children, and receive proper supervision and guidance when carrying out their duties."
