SINGAPORE – Kinderland has been fined a total of $10,000 – $5,000 for each of two pre-school centres, at Woodlands Mart and Sunshine Place, where cases of child mismanagement were found.

In a statement on Feb 20, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said it will continue to limit the licences of both centres to six months after these expire in March 2024.

The agency said it had found that Kinderland’s headquarters did not effectively supervise the training and oversight of its centres’ employees, following a report by an independent review committee set up by Kinderland to look into the spate of child mismanagement incidents in 2023.

ECDA will continue to closely monitor all other Kinderland centres, it said. In addition, Kinderland must share the lessons learnt from the incidents with the rest of the early childhood sector.

“This will enable all pre-school operators to reflect and learn from this episode, review their own internal systems and processes and identify areas for improvement,” said ECDA.

The cases of child mismanagement came to light on Aug 28 when videos of former teacher Lin Min allegedly mistreating children under her care – including a 23-month-old girl – were circulated online. In one video, she is seen allegedly forcing the girl to lie down and pouring water into the girl’s mouth.

Details about the victim and the exact location of the incident cannot be disclosed because of a gag order.

In a separate video that also emerged in August 2023, another teacher at a different centre was seen “forcefully pushing” a three-year-old child.

Following police investigations, a former educator from Kinderland @ Woodlands Mart was charged with one count of ill-treatment of a child or young person, and the court case is ongoing. A former educator at Kinderland @ Sunshine Place was administered a 12-month conditional warning.

Since the incidents, ECDA has conducted frequent unannounced checks on Kinderland’s classroom management practices, and Kinderland has taken immediate corrective actions.

For instance, it deployed more employees from its headquarters to the two centres to provide close guidance.

Centre leaders also conduct day-to-day walkabouts to tighten supervision. In addition, closed-circuit television cameras were installed in all centres by November 2023.

Kinderland also now requires all centre leaders to submit a daily online report on their centres’ operations. Areas of concerns will be flagged to headquarters.

Between September and October 2023, all Kinderland employees attended training sessions on its code of conduct, use of appropriate child management strategies and reporting procedures for inappropriate practices.

The operator has improved its whistle-blowing policy by designating a contact person to whom employees can report inappropriate practices, and expanding channels that employees can use for reporting.

Kinderland will also implement an online system by the end of February 2024 to track reported incidents and investigation outcomes.

ECDA chief executive Tan Chee Wee said the agency has zero tolerance for inappropriate management of children in its pre-schools.

“All operators, centres and educators are expected to do their part to keep children safe.

“The Kinderland incidents have revealed its HQ’s failure to exercise effective oversight of its centres’ staff training and supervision.

“It is therefore crucial that Kinderland HQ properly implements and sustains corrective actions at its centres to prevent child mismanagement from happening.”

ECDA took action against the teachers involved and their centre leaders when the incidents came to light last August.

Aside from immediately shortening the licences of the centres involved, from 36 to six months, it also rejected Kinderland’s recent application to add a new centre to the partner operator scheme, under which centres receive government funding.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, Kinderland said that it acknowledges ECDA’s statement on Feb 20, and remains committed to working closely with the agency and other stakeholders to prevent repeats of such incidents.

It added that the report by the independent review committee found that the incidents and lapses that took place were specific to the two centres at Woodlands Mart and Sunshine Place.

Before the report was submitted, Kinderland had taken action to rectify the situation, including offering counselling services to all the families of children enrolled at the two centres, and to its educators.

“Kinderland wholeheartedly apologises to the affected families over the lapses that took place which led to the incidents at the two affected centres,” it said, adding that it regrets the concern that these incidents raised among parents and the public.

“The incidents from 2023 were a sobering reminder of the challenges that come with maintaining high standards of child management.”