Police investigating mum's claims of abuse at Bedok pre-school

The police are investigating a pre-school in Bedok after a mother alleged that her child was abused by a teacher there, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said yesterday.

Ms Mickie Sae claimed on Facebook last Wednesday that her three-year-old son had been abused at the Sunflower Preschool in Bedok Reservoir over a period of about one month.

She said her son, who was enrolled in the school in early June, would come home with fresh marks on his body, including fingernail marks on his ears as well as a bruise on his neck which resembled rope burn. According to Ms Sae, a doctor said the mark on her child's neck was likely to have been caused by abrasions.

Ms Sae approached the pre-school's principal and asked to see closed-circuit television footage of the alleged incidents. However, her request was denied. Ms Sae then made a police report.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, an ECDA spokes-man said it takes a serious view of child mismanagement.

"In August 2019, ECDA was alerted by the police to this incident," said the spokesman.

"ECDA is working closely with the pre-school to ensure close supervision of children and provide guidance and support to the teachers in classroom management.

"We note that following the incident, the pre-school reminded all its staff to abide by established procedures on child guidance and behaviour management, and tightened up on monitoring," she said.

Pre-schools are required to report incidents that have an impact on the safety of staff and children to ECDA.

ECDA said it follows up on allegations of child mismanagement incidents through visits to the pre-schools, interviews and verification of records.