THE EARLY Childhood Development agency is investigating a parent's claims that her 21-month-old son was injured after being ill-treated by a teacher at Raffles Early Learning Centre.
Ms Jacinta Pang posted on Facebook yesterday that the youngster "often came home with lots of bruises on his leg and there was once he even came home with a cut in his penis".
Ms Pang, whose son started at the Telok Blangah centre in April, also said there had been a "deep cut" on his head.
The centre's director, Mr James Wong, who has met Ms Pang, declined comment on the allegations to The Straits Times.
Ms Pang wrote on Facebook: "I was very disturbed with what had happened and started asking my son if someone in the school had beaten him and I start naming the teacher(s) to him.
"He said no to all the teachers except one of them where he kept quiet and he even hide under the blanket."
She asked Mr Wong to investigate last month, but there was no follow-up. Then, on Monday, the centre contacted her to say her son had fallen and hit his head, resulting in a cut.
An ECDA spokesman said it is looking into the matter.
Ms Pang added that her son's injuries and possible ill-treatment at the hands of a teacher had scared her, although she had also heard good reviews of the centre's teachers from friends with older children there.
"I felt so sad that I allow my son to stay in the school despite signs that he had been mishandled!" she wrote in her Facebook post.
"I have stopped him from going to school and will be withdrawing him from school. I hope all parents with young children will take my experience as a learning lesson."
Mr Wong confirmed that Ms Pang had met him. He said: "I know about the case, the accidents and so on."
He did not want to comment on his centre's safety or educator selection policy, and did not want to specifically address Ms Pang's allegations.
"I am not here to comment on whether this parent is right or wrong. She should be coming to us instead of writing on Facebook," he said.
"Right now we want the child to have a quick recovery from his fall. I only wish the child can recover and move on with his education."
