Significant developments have emerged in the Kinderland saga—the case that centred around what appeared to be a single teacher’s misconduct but ultimately led to a major saga.
By now, you’re likely familiar with the infamous Kinderland saga involving a teacher at its Woodlands Mart branch who has been arrested and charged with child mistreatment. If not, you can watch this for a recap:
The teacher’s appalling actions include forcing a child to lie on the ground while forcefully feeding them water and hitting a male toddler with a hardcover book, leading to nationwide outrage.
Even Ho Ching, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife, has publicly expressed her concerns on Facebook about this incident.
The teacher, identified as Lin Min or Teacher A, has been placed under reprimand at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for medical examination.
Kinderland Management’s Response
Kinderland issued a press release following a meeting with parents during their fourth dialogue session at the Woodlands Mart branch.
In the press release, Kinderland provided a timeline of events related to the case.
According to Kinderland, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), the government agency overseeing early childhood education, conducted classroom observations at Kinderland Woodlands Mart on 11 August.
This observation occurred 13 days after Teacher B, who had filmed the alleged abuse videos and came forward as the whistleblower, resigned from the school on 29 July.
Kinderland claimed that the school’s principal at the time, Mahirah Yasid, viewed all three videos filmed by Teacher B on 17 August after being invited by ECDA to their office during their investigation.
On the same day, Yasid notified Kinderland’s headquarters about the videos of the alleged abuse. A disciplinary inquiry was set up to investigate the conduct of Teacher A, the alleged perpetrator of the mistreatment captured in the videos.
On 22 August, during the first phase of the disciplinary inquiry, Teacher A received a warning letter from Kinderland. She was to be closely supervised by Yasid and had to co-partner with another educator.
Yes, this is something new: she had received a warning letter.
Six days later, the three videos were posted online and went viral on Facebook.
Kinderland claimed that this was the first time their management saw the videos on 28 August.
Teacher A, Lin Min, was fired from the centre and arrested on the same day. Also, on that day, the second phase of the disciplinary inquiry concluded, which led to Lin Min’s dismissal.
Yes, there are two phases.
Conflicting Statements Between Kinderland and Teacher B
Mr Seet Lee Kiang, the general manager of Kinderland, stated that Teacher B never mentioned incidents of the alleged abuse during her exit interview with Yasid on 4 July.
He also stated that no documentation regarding the incidents was submitted, asserting that Yasid was only informed of the matter by ECDA.
However, this statement contradicts Teacher B’s account of the incident with CNA.
Teacher B claimed that she was the only other teacher in the room when she filmed the videos and had alerted Yasid twice about Lin’s mistreatment of pupils. Yasid, however, reportedly cited Lin’s years of service to the school as a reason not to take action.
Former Principal Mahirah Yasid Redeployed, Kinderland Introduces New Principal
Following parents’ demands for Yasid’s removal, she was redeployed to other roles within Kinderland on 30 August. She can no longer serve as a preschool principal, and ECDA will review her suitability post-training after two years.
Kinderland has also taken steps to repair its reputation in the wake of this incident.
They have hired a new principal, Surinder Kaur, with 20 years of experience in the early childhood sector. Kaur is set to increase the frequency of Principal walkabouts to monitor the well-being of teachers and children.
For enhanced safety and security, 24-hour CCTV cameras have also been installed in the centre’s classrooms and activity areas.
According to a parent who spoke to CNA, Kaur is described as “quite outspoken,” and she felt more assured with the replacement of principal.
Kinderland has also imposed a personal device ban on its teachers.
Consequently, Kinderland has been fined $5,000, and their license tenure has been reduced to six months in light of the incident.
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