Preschool Teacher Accused of Physically Harming Toddler: ECDA Investigates
A preschool teacher has been accused of causing physical harm to a 1-year-old boy.
The teacher had allegedly pushed the child away from a window when he had tried to climb up the grilles.
The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) announced in a statement that an “an inappropriate method” was utilised to stop the child from climbing up the grilles, and is taking appropriate measures to deal with the situation
What Happened
The incident involves a 22-month-old toddler who joined the PCF Sparkletots preschool beneath Block 445 at Nee Soon Link, Yishun just this January.
The child’s father, a 45-year-old operations executive, informed Lianhe Zaobao that, after giving his son a shower on the evening of January 5, he noticed a bruise about the size of a 50-cent coin above his right ear, as well as scratches on his face.
The parents speculated that the injury most likely occurred during the daycare hours as he had not sustained any falls at home.
They also ruled out the possibility of the bruise being caused by a fellow child considering its size and location.
With the preschool closed over the weekend, the parents had to wait until Monday (8 January) to question the school. The child was then taken to a doctor, who assured the parents that there is no internal bleeding and that the wound would heal on its own.
Upon informing the principal after the school reopened, they were assured that an investigation would be conducted.
The parents also followed up with a police report, hoping for a more thorough investigation and appropriate action if any wrongdoing is found.
CCTV Footage Reveals the Truth
Following the police report, the ECDA showed up to the PCF Sparkletots preschool unannounced in order to review the CCTV footage from the days leading up to the discovery of the boy’s bruise.
From which, there are two notable incidents that demanded further investigations.
The first occurred on 3 January, which showed the boy repeatedly attempting to climb a window grille. An educator was then seen pushing the boy off the grille.
According to the ECDA, the child then fell on his bottom onto the playmat, and rolled onto his side.
The second incident took place a day later, and CCTV footage shows the boy, while seated on a low chair, losing his balance and falling backwards onto the floor.
The parents of the toddler were called back into the preschool to review the CCTV footage of the second incident. However, the footage showing their son climbing the window grilles a day prior was strangely not revealed to them.
The father said that they only found out about their son being pushed onto the ground when the ECDA informed them on 15 January.
While ECDA revealed that the cause of the bruised ear was most likely due to falling backwards from his chair, they also said that they are actively pursuing the violent actions taken by the educator on 3 January.
The Consequences
ECDA said in a statement, “While incidents involving children may sometimes occur despite the pre-school’s best efforts, ECDA takes a serious view towards all cases of child mismanagement. Action will be taken against the pre-school operator and staff if our findings support the allegation.”
If an educator was found guilty of practising inappropriate methods on students, ECDA will issue warning letters.
In serious cases, the person will be barred from working in the pre-school sector and can be referred to the police for criminal investigation.
In response to inquiries, the PCF Sparkletots in question affirmed that it is “fully committed to cooperating with the parents and the authorities”.
Currently, the boy’s injury is reportedly healing well and is less visible.The child is being cared for at home by the parents.
However, the father revealed, the boy is still “badly traumatised” from the incidents and has stopped attending preschool as of 17 January 2024.
The parents have not yet decided if they should continue to send him to preschool.
Should there be any suspicions of child mismanagement, staff or parents can report their findings to their preschool management or to ECDA at [email protected].