Three preschool employees suspended after children allegedly locked in dark room

SINGAPORE: Three employees at a preschool have been suspended following allegations of child mismanagement, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said on Thursday (Feb 29).

A parent and the preschool in Seletar both made reports to ECDA on Monday. CNA is not naming the preschool in accordance with the Children and Young Persons Act. 

The agency said it has started investigations, including an unannounced visit to the preschool, a review of closed-circuit television footage, interviews and verification of records.

The police confirmed that a report was lodged and said investigations are ongoing. CNA has contacted the preschool for comment.

The parent, who did not want to be named, told CNA that she went to the police after the preschool management showed her CCTV footage of her son being scolded in a dark room last week.

The three-year-old previously told her that this was a form of punishment that he received in preschool when he misbehaved. One of his teachers had hinted to her that her son was being unfairly treated in preschool and that she should ask him about it.

When her son mentioned the dark room, she tried to give the preschool the benefit of the doubt, she said.

The preschool community was small and she said she trusted the teachers who mostly stayed on when the school went through a change in management.

"Maybe they just want to put him in a less stimulating environment?" she said. But when she probed further, her son said he was scared when his teachers put him in that room.

Although the footage she watched did not have any audio, the parent said what she saw matched what her son had told her. There were two teachers involved – they had angry facial expressions and it looked like they were slamming the door and shouting at her son.

When she asked the school management if they had spoken to the teachers, she was told that their incident reports were different from what was on the CCTV footage.

BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES

Another parent who only wanted to be known as Mr Gerard said his son, who is four years old, also became more aggressive, could not sleep well at night and refused to go to school.

"We just assumed that he was throwing tantrums because we had multiple travel holidays, we had a lot of occasions such as Chinese New Year," he said.

"We just thought he wanted to stay at home and play ... I don't think many people would assume that oh, my child is getting abused in school or something."

The couple had started the process of withdrawing their son from the preschool because of his behavioural changes when they received a letter from the preschool highlighting a "child mismanagement" incident.

In the letter sent to parents via email, the school said three teachers were suspended with immediate effect "to ensure the integrity of the investigation process and to prevent any further occurrences".

Mr Gerard and his wife then decided to ask their son if anything had happened to him. He said his son told him that he was locked up in the dark room many times.

Both parents who spoke to CNA said their children's behaviour changed after the previous principal left. The current school management announced last October that it would be operating the centre.

Mr Gerard said his priority is making sure that his son is not too affected by the alleged abuse, and that several parents intend to bring their children to see a psychiatrist.

"After which, I think the most important thing that has to happen is that there has to be some sort of justice served."

ECDA said that to safeguard children's safety while investigations are ongoing, the suspended staff members will not be allowed to work in the sector.

"ECDA has instructed the preschool operator to closely monitor the children and check their well-being, as well as provide close supervision and guidance to its staff," the authority said. 

It said it would take firm action against preschool educators and operators when they are found guilty of not fulfilling their duty of care to the children under their charge.

"For serious cases where there appears to be clear intent to harm the child, the case will be referred to the police for criminal investigation," the ECDA spokesperson said.

In its letter to parents, the preschool said it is fully cooperating with ECDA's investigations and is committed to transparency. It added that it would be appointing a dedicated counsellor to provide support to students and staff members. 

Last year, videos of teachers allegedly rough-handling children at two Kinderland preschools went viral on social media.

One of them, Lin Min, 34, was charged last year with ill-treating a 23-month-old girl. On Wednesday, she was handed fresh charges involving three other children.

The other former preschool teacher was given a conditional warning by the police.

In August last year, ECDA announced that CCTVs would be required at all preschools by July this year.

Kinderland was fined a total of S$10,000 (US$7,400) over the incidents.

Editor's note: The name of the preschool has been removed in accordance with the Children and Young Persons Act.