Union looking into student care operator Little Professors over unpaid salaries of 54 staff

SINGAPORE – Employees of student care provider Little Professors Learning Centre are alleging that the company has not paid them their January salaries and CPF contributions since November 2025, and have filed reports with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM).

The police confirmed that reports were lodged and investigations are ongoing.

In a media statement on Feb 14, Mr Harry Lee, president of the Education Services Union (ESU) said it is looking into the case where 54 employees are owed salaries by the company, which is a non-unionised company.

ESU and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) are also working with the affected members to assess whether short-term financial relief and job referrals can be provided within ESU’s network, he said.

Several parents have also discovered that they had been double charged via GIRO deductions for their children’s February student care fees.

Little Professors runs student care centres in at least eight primary schools, including Kranji Primary, White Sands Primary and Hong Wen School.

It also provides full-day care services for children in MOE kindergartens located in five of these primary schools – Anchor Green, Waterway, Punggol Cove, Jing Shan and Westwood – according to the schools’ websites. The service is called Kindergarten Care (KCare).

Anchor Green Primary has informed affected parents through a circular on Feb 14 that it has terminated the services of Little Professors, due to “contractual breaches by the operator”.

In the message seen by The Straits Times, the school said it is actively working with MOE to appoint a replacement operator to run student care services. Until then, the school will provide after-school support for student care and KCare students.

Parents will not be charged for this after-school support, managed by school staff. It will include provision of food, homework supervision, and nap time for pupils.

On Feb 12, ST spoke to three Little Professors staff. All of them stopped working on Feb 10, after the company failed to pay their January salary which was due on Feb 7.

The staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said their CPF contributions were previously also delayed in September 2025, and have remained unpaid since November 2025.

One of them, from the student care centre at Anchor Green Primary, said she contacted the company’s human resources team on Feb 9, but received no explanation for the payment delays.

In a message seen by ST, the HR team told employees on Feb 9 via WhatsApp that it was “working on the issue” and to continue reporting to work as operations would carry on.

The next message staff received was on Feb 13, when employees were told that the company had met with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) that day, which is working with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to investigate the issue.

“At this point, the boss/director remains uncontactable and HQ is therefore unable to provide any payment timeline or deadline,” the message read.

It added that MOM advises affected employees to file an employment claim with TADM, which the staff member proceeded to do.

The message informed employees that their employment contract with Little Professors was no longer considered valid, and they could resign without serving notice.

TADM has since responded to her and other employees on Feb 13, asking them to attend a mediation session on March 6.

ST has contacted Little Professors for comment.

Business records as at Feb 9 show that the company was set up on Sept 2, 2013. Its registered office address in Jurong West was closed when ST visited on Feb 14, and another education company appeared to occupy the same space.

ST has reached out to MOE, MOM, CPF and TDAM for comment.

Mr Lee said that ESU will work with TADM and relevant government agencies to provide support for the affected workers.

“Our priority is to ensure that the workers receive the assistance they need during this period,” he said, adding that ESU will give further updates when appropriate.

The staff member said school leaders at Anchor Green Primary have been “very understanding” about the situation and the difficulties she and her five colleagues were facing. “We briefed the school teachers about our routines, and they have since taken over,” she said.

Mrs Clara Tan, 38, whose Primary 3 son attends the student care programme at Anchor Green Primary, said she was shocked to hear from him that the school staff had taken over.

“He said the principal, vice-principal and teachers had taken over the serving of food and care of the children in student care... He also saw some parents from the parent support group being activated to help out,” said Mrs Tan.

The civil servant said GIRO deductions for the monthly fees of $250 were processed twice in February, on Feb 1 and Feb 12.

This is not the first time it has happened. Her account was charged twice in June and September 2025, and three times in October 2025.

“All those times, the company reimbursed us quickly. But now they are not responding, and they are still holding on to our deposit of $250, which I don’t know if we will get back,” she said.

Two Little Professors employees said the school they were based in has asked them to return, citing appreciation for the student care staff’s work.

“The school said it has informed MOE, and they are looking for a third party to take over, so that we can join them and return to the school,” said one of the employees.

Employees who need help can contact ESU at 6872 1148 or email 

esu@ntuc.org.sg

. They may also submit a case at 

https://www.ntuc.org.sg/uportal/E-Services

.