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Parents show support for centre cleared by ECDA of abuse allegations

The ECDA said Sam’s Early Learning Centre complies with its regulations for safety, health and hygiene. (Photo courtesy of Nathanael Chua)
The ECDA said Sam’s Early Learning Centre complies with its regulations for safety, health and hygiene. (Photo courtesy of Nathanael Chua)

Parents of children who go to a childcare centre accused of neglect say pictures circulated of the centre were “maliciously taken out of context” by someone seeking to harm the centre’s reputation.

Yahoo Singapore has seen a letter jointly signed by 35 parents who send their children to Sam’s Early Learning Centre in River Valley. It is understood that the parents began circulating the letter to media beginning Wednesday evening (22 February).

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) had earlier cleared the centre of allegations of unhygienic practices and abuse on 22 Feb after completing its investigation, media reports said.

In the statement, the parents said, “From the beginning, we did not believe these allegations were true as our children have always been happy and healthy, and there have never been any complaints from our children about abuse or mistreatment in the many years our children have been attending Sam’s.

Sam’s has been very forthcoming and has explained the context behind the pictures, and we are satisfied with their explanations. We are glad that the ECDA report has cleared the name of the school and that our trust in the school and its teachers has not been misplaced.”
The letter adds, “We believe that the pictures were deliberately and maliciously taken out of context and captioned with defamatory statements by someone intending to harm Sam’s reputation.”

Yahoo Singapore understands that the centre called a parent-teacher meeting to update the parents about the investigation when the allegations surfaced.

A copy of the letter released by parents of children at Sam’s Early Learning Centre. (Photo: Courtesy of parent Rubee Lee)
A copy of the letter released by parents of children at Sam’s Early Learning Centre. (Photo: Courtesy of parent Rubee Lee)

In photos posted on Chinese social media site WeChat on 15 Feb, a post alleged that children at the centre were fed rotten fruit, made to sleep on the floor without mattresses and were left unsupervised. One photo showed a child sleeping in a cot next to a dirty diaper, legs soiled with excrement.

Sam’s Early Learning Centre complies with regulations: ECDA

The childcare centre had put out a statement earlier on Wednesday (22 Feb) in response to the allegations of mistreatment. Samia El-Ibiary, the centre’s director, confirmed that the pictures were taken at the centre, but said they were taken in 2016 and did not provide an accurate picture of the events.

El-Ibiary said the photos did not depict abuse as suggested, and believes the pictures were posted by a “disgruntled” former female employee who has since returned to China.

She said fruits would be thrown away if found to be rotten, not served to the children. She also said the toddler pictured in the cot, who was around 18 months’ old at the time, had a habit of pulling his diapers off while having bowel movements. In the photo posted, a teacher and cleaner had been attempting to wash the child, she said.

As for the photos of students lying on the floor without mattresses, El-Ibiary said they were students doing stretching and breathing exercises.

Regarding the allegation that the school had thrown away milk powder after forgetting to feed children, El-Ibiary said the milk powder pictured in a dustbin was thrown away after being spilled.

The ECDA said its findings were consistent with the explanation by the childcare centre and that “the photographs appear to be taken out of context”. The ECDA also said that based on its investigations, Sam’s Early Learning Centre complies with its regulations for safety, health and hygiene.