Kinderland preschool abuse: Disciplinary panel took over a week to view video after principal
Dialogue session with parents saw new principal assuring their children's well-being, with more principal walkabouts planned
SINGAPORE — After the principal of Kinderland@Woodlands Mart first viewed video footage depicting alleged child abuse at its premises, more than a week passed before the same footage was seen by the disciplinary inquiry panel responsible for investigating the teacher's conduct.
This detail came to light in a revised press release by Kinderland issued on Thursday (7 September) following a meeting with concerned parents.
The video led to the arrest and charges against the teacher, 33-year-old Singaporean Lin Min, who is accused of ill-treating the child. The operator of Kinderland Preschool@Woodlands Mart also faces a $5,000 fine from the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) for serious child mismanagement incidents.
Kinderland held its fourth dialogue session with parents at Kinderland Preschool@Woodlands Mart on Wednesday, where they provided a timeline of events.
The timeline sheds light on the events that transpired during the teacher's arrest and dismissal.
Kinderland's timeline of events
On 11 August, Kinderland said that ECDA had conducted a visit to their Woodlands Mart branch. During the visit, ECDA officials carried out classroom observations and alerted principal Mahirah Yasid to an anonymous report of child mismanagement.
Subsequently, on 17 August, ECDA conducted interviews with the principal and two other teachers.
Mahirah was shown video footage depicting alleged cases of child mismanagement, recorded by a teacher who had departed in July. A senior manager from Kinderland also accompanied the principal and "viewed snippets of the video footage", according to Kinderland.
Following this, Mahirah and the senior manager reported the matter to Kinderland headquarters, leading to the establishment of a disciplinary inquiry (DI) to investigate Lin's conduct.
On 22 August, during the first phase of the inquirty, Lin received a formal warning letter from the preschool. She was closely supervised by Mahirah and co-partnered with another educator.
However, on 28 August, video footage of the alleged child abuse cases surfaced online. It was only at this point when Kinderland's general manager and the DI panel had the opportunity to review the video evidence, apart from the senior manager.
The second phase of the DI was promptly concluded on the same day, resulting in Lin's termination from employment. Furthermore, Lin was arrested in connection with the allegations.
On 30 August, Lin was formally charged in court. Simultaneously, Mahirah was removed from her current role and reassigned, effective from the same date, as part of the ongoing response to the incident.
New principal, device policy, and ongoing efforts for child safety
According to Kinderland, parents at the meeting were introduced to the new principal, Surinder Kaur, who has 20 years of experience in the early childhood sector, with 10 of those years spent at Kinderland.
She assured parents of her commitment to their children's well-being and pledged to increase the frequency of principal walkabouts to interact with teachers and children.
Kinderland reiterated its "no personal device" policy at the preschool but allows for exceptions in cases of whistleblowing or emergencies.
"This is to ensure that teachers are focused on their children and undistracted by their devices. This policy also ensures the privacy of the children, their families, and teachers," said the release.
The school encourages staff to use any available devices to report inappropriate behaviour swiftly. However, staff must utilise company-issued mobile devices for communicating with parents and sharing updates on their child's progress.
In response to ongoing concerns, Kinderland promised to keep parents informed about further efforts to provide a safe environment for the children.
This comes on the heels of more cases emerging since the original Woodlands video surfaced. ECDA has reported that another Woodlands teacher was found to have restrained a three-year-old boy on two occasions.
In a separate incident, a teacher at another Kinderland branch, Sunshine Place in Choa Chu Kang, was arrested on 29 August after a video depicting her forcefully handling a child surfaced on social media.
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