A preschool teacher in Singapore was suspended after investigations found that she had kicked a five-year-old girl in the shin.
The incident reportedly resulted in severe bruising on the child’s right shin.
Following the suspension, the teacher resigned from her role and has not been working with children since.
According to The Straits Times (ST), the incident occurred on 2 April.
A spokesperson for the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) confirmed with ST that they were alerted to the incident on 3 April.
The girl’s parents told ST they had reported the incident to the police on the day of the incident before taking her to get a medical check-up at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
The girl’s medical report showed that she suffered a haematoma — a bad bruise — measuring 1cm by 1cm on her right shin.
On 14 May, the child’s father received an email from ECDA, informing him that they had looked through the childcare centre’s surveillance footage and interviewed its employees.
“We have ascertained that the staff had adopted inappropriate classroom management methods when she kicked your child to make her sit properly before (a) nap,” the email stated.
In its statement on 5 June, ECDA said the childcare centre suspended the teacher after its investigations.
Subsequently, the teacher resigned from her post and hasn’t been working in the preschool sector, the agency elaborated.
This was a development that the girl’s parents were “extremely relieved” about, knowing that the teacher is no longer working in the childcare centre.
Additionally, ECDA has taken “regulatory actions” against the preschool operator and the teacher involved.
It highlighted that it requires all preschool operators to have “systemic measures” to ensure the safety of the children under their care.
ECDA added: “Preschools must also ensure that their educators use developmentally appropriate methods to interact with children”.
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