Teacher in alleged child abuse case arrested

[Ginchiyo Tachibana]

Updated: 07/07/2013 17:11 | By Channel NewsAsia

Teacher in alleged child abuse case arrested

SINGAPORE: A 51-year-old teacher was arrested on Sunday in connection to an alleged child abuse case that took place at the NTUC My First Skool childcare centre in Toa Payoh on Friday.

The three-year-old boy's father said his son, who can be hyperactive, suffered a hairline fracture on his left shin.

NTUC First Campus, which operates My First Skool, said this was due to mishandling by the teacher. The teacher has since been suspended.

CCTV footage showing a woman dragging a boy across the floor and pushing him down with force has gone viral online. The woman is believed to be the child's teacher.

His parents were initially told by the childcare centre that he had a fall, but demanded to see the CCTV footage.

All centres under NTUC First Campus have been fitted with closed-circuit cameras since 2011.

The boy’s father, who is not named to protect the child’s identity, said: "I wanted to know how he fell down, because to my knowledge he can jump from anywhere… without having any bruises, without any cuts, because he knows how to have a safe landing and also how to take care of himself. So it was quite puzzling how he injured himself this time round."

At a news conference earlier Sunday, Chief Executive Officer of NTUC First Campus Chan Tee Seng said First Campus has already made arrangements for the boy to be transferred to another centre.

Help, including the cost of all medical expenses, would also be extended to the child and his parents.

"I was very, very disturbed and saddened by what I saw. The teacher's conduct was totally unacceptable and my heart, and those of my colleagues', go out to the child and his parents. Whatever the circumstances, such behaviour cannot be condoned, and I'm truly sorry that this has happened," he said.

Mr Chan also stressed that the centre did not attempt to hide anything from the boy's parents.

The boy’s parents, however, claim that the centre did not want them view the CCTV footage until internal investigations had been carried out. This led them to make a police report.

Channel NewsAsia understands that the teacher is an experienced diploma-trained childcare provider who has been teaching since 1997 and a part-time teacher with My First Skool since 2009.

NTUC First Campus also said that there have been no prior complaints about her mishandling students, and that the teacher was handling nine students on the day of the alleged incident -- lower than the recommended ratio of one teacher to 12 students for those of that age group.

NTUC First Campus has set up a dedicated line to address parents' concerns, and said that it would step up its engagement and training of staff to reinforce the right conduct, behaviour, and good practices.

It also added that it would continue to fully co-operate with the police, the Ministry of Social and Family Development, and the Early Childhood Development Agency.

Philip Koh, founder of the Preschool Teachers Network, said the incident is a reminder that there needs to be more consistency in ensuring teachers adopt best practices in managing children.

He said: "Teachers need to be mentored, teachers need to be heard, teachers need to be guided to ensure that a more conducive environment is provided, taking into account that teachers are not too stretched, or not too overloaded with lots of responsibilities in taking care of young children." - CNA/jc

 

[Ginchiyo Tachibana]

By Channel NewsAsia, Updated: 07/07/2013

My First Skool cooperating with police on alleged child abuse case

SINGAPORE: NTUC's My First Skool said it is co-operating fully with the police on the case of alleged child abuse at its centre located in Blk 192 Toa Payoh Central.

My First Skool also said the teacher involved has been suspended with immediate effect.

It added that the safety and welfare of the children is top priority and that it takes this responsibility very seriously.

Its statement was in response to an alleged child abuse incident which resulted in a boy having a hairline fracture in his leg.

Video clips of the alleged incident have gone viral.

My First Skool said its main focus is the child's welfare and that the parents of the child have requested for a transfer to another centre in its network.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development said it is aware of an alleged incident at My First Skool.

The ministry added child safety remains its paramount concern and that it is investigating.

- CNA/fa

 

[Ginchiyo Tachibana]

Childcare teacher involved in abuse case had "no prior complaints" against her

By Walter Sim
The Straits Times
Sunday, Jul 07, 2013

SINGAPORE - The childcare teacher who allegedly dragged a three-year-old boy across the floor and caused him to fracture his shin had 16 years of experience in the preschool sector.

Get the full story from The Straits Times.

The woman, who was arrested by the police on Sunday, was a "qualified diploma trained teacher" who joined My First Skool in 2009 from another operator, who had not had any prior complaints, said Ms Geraldine Lee, chief human resource officer of NTUC First Campus, which runs My First Skool, at a press conference on Sunday.

The incident that had been caught on closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) showed the woman slamming a child repeatedly onto the ground.

The incident is believed to have happened at a Toa Payoh childcare centre.

In the video, a child is seen running up to a woman in a classroom, who grabs him by the arms. She seems to be lecturing the child.

After awhile, she drags the child to the back of the classroom and slams him onto the ground. She does it at least twice before she pins the child to the ground and speaks to him again. She can also be seen slapping the boy.

Later, she leaves the child in the corner and walks away.

There are more children and at least two other adults in the background.

In a second video of the same incident, the child can be seen struggling to his feet. He tries to stand up while leaning on a table for support, but is unable to do so.

In a Facebook post, the person who posted the incident, Bogues Love, said: "Hi all, thank you for showing my husband and I with all the well wishes and support. We really appreciate it a lot. But we are both sad that our son will be celebrating his birthday on the 30th July 2013 in a leg cast. We wanted to celebrate his birthday at his school but I guess that it would not be happening. "

She added that he kept waking up every half hour, screaming in pain.

 

[rolleyez]

Updated: 07/08/2013 19:56

Childcare teacher granted bail

The childcare teacher who was arrested yesterday for allegedly abusing a three-year-old boy has been granted police bail.

No charge date has been set for the case.

The boy's parents lodged a police report against the teacher after their son suffered a fracture in his leg on Friday morning.

Video clips from CCTV recordings showed a woman dragging a young boy to a corner of the classroom and pushing him to the floor in the My First Skool centre in Toa Payoh.

 

[rolleyez]

Updated: 07/08/2013 06:39

Halimah Yacob calls on Singaporeans not to judge and view all childcare teachers negatively

Commenting on the alleged childcare abuse incident on her Facebook this evening (7/07) -

Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob said she too was "horrified and very concerned" as a very young and defenceless child was involved.

However, she urged Singaporeans to be patient as the Ministry of Social and Family Development takes this incident very seriously and is investigating.

She also called on them not to judge and view all childcare teachers negatively "as many joined the profession not just because it is a job for them, but because of their love for children."

"We do not want to dampen their spirit and weaken their resolve," added Madam Halimah.

 

[rolleyez]

Teacher in alleged child abuse case fired; 2 more police reports made

POSTED: 08 Jul 2013 8:35 PM

SINGAPORE: The NTUC My First Skool teacher at the centre of an alleged child abuse case has been dismissed.

NTUC First Campus, which runs My First Skool, said the teacher acknowledged her actions were "inappropriate" during a panel meeting Monday morning and accepted the dismissal.

Meanwhile, two other parents whose children were under the teacher's care have also filed police reports.

Channel NewsAsia understands that the two other parents had seen their children with bruises in the past, and want the police to investigate if their children had also been mishandled.

The 51-year-old teacher was arrested Sunday following an earlier police report.

The teacher is currently out on bail and police say investigations are still ongoing.

The incident happened on 5 July at My First Skool in Toa Payoh.

CCTV footage showing a woman dragging a boy across the floor and pushing him down with force has gone viral online. The woman is believed to be the child's teacher.

The father of the child said the boy suffered a hairline fracture in his left shin.

The parents had demanded to see the CCTV footage of the incident after they were told that the child had a fall.

About 10 parents from the playgroup class met the CEO of NTUC First Campus and the general manager of My First Skool on Monday morning.

Fourteen of the 45 children previously cared for by the teacher were absent on Monday.

- CNA/jc

 

[winnipegjets]

Looks like NTUC is in full-scale cover-up mode.

Why did the teacher did what she did?
Was that centre understaffed?
Why didn't the other teachers stop her?

NTUC just wants to focus on the teacher but not on how the centre is run. Those questions need to be addressed as an individual who is that mean would have done it for a long time. So, it is either the centre didn't know of her activities for a long time or the centre was so understaffed that teachers were cracking up due to the stress. Kids can drive you crazy and this could be one of those days.

 

[hokkien]

Arrested but no charge date?IO same type of people with her?

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

What is the name of the teacher?

Police said the names of the teacher and the child are withheld to protect the child. This is not a case of shame (rape, molest, padeophile), the child cannot be hurt by being identified.

Name the teacher!

 

[chinasuckz]

Help for sacked childcare teacher

July 19, 2013 - 1:06am

By: Judith Tan

Parents and peers have contributed money to pay for a lawyer to help the sacked childcare teacher who allegedly abused a three-year-old boy.

That is, if one is needed.

And the Education Services Union will help facilitate this should she accept the help, its executive secretary Ang Hin Kee said.

The three-year-old boy suffered a fracture after allegedly rough treatment by the 51-year-old, who was working part-time at a My First Skool branch in Toa Payoh.

Days after the news broke, parents with children at the childcare centre came forward to defend her and had only praise for her.

Read the full story in The New Paper on Friday (July 19).

 

[hokkien]

Who and what kind of people will help her?Pakistan...?

 

[lianbeng]

Who and what kind of people will help her?Pakistan...?

lianbeng replies hokkien: do to them what they do to u! where's her own child?

 

[hokkien]

lianbeng replies hokkien: do to them what they do to u! where's her own child?

Bro maybe she still virgin leh

 

[Kohliantye]

Who and what kind of people will help her?Pakistan...?

Many years ago a Pakistani man used a red-hot metal and drove it into his wife's private part.

That poor lady had to go to England for operations.

Why is the cause of all these abuse?

The name of the assailant should be given as nothing is of importance to shield the victim.

On the contrary, the victim needs support from the masses.

These sort of censorship is no good.