Principal of Kinderland pre-school at centre of abuse allegations removed from post
The principal of a Kinderland pre-school at the centre of a storm involving allegations of ill-treatment has been removed from her role in the centre and will no longer be allowed to participate in activities relating to children.
Mr Seet Lee Kiang, general manager of Kinderland Singapore, told The Straits Times on Thursday that the principal, Ms Mahirah Yasid, had been redeployed to other roles in the company since Wednesday.
Some parents on Wednesday had called for Ms Mahirah to be fired and barred from working in the pre-school sector, after videos of a teacher there allegedly manhandling pupils were circulated widely online on Monday.
Mr Seet, in the first interview with the media by Kinderland’s management after the videos emerged on Monday, said all parents of the pre-school have been invited to a dialogue session at the pre-school on Saturday at 10am.
He said he first learnt of the incident on Aug 17, the same day the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) contacted Kinderland over the alleged abuse incidents. ECDA started investigations on Aug 10.
Mr Seet added that Kinderland’s management had gotten sight of the videos only on Aug 28, when they surfaced online.
“Ms Yasid saw the three videos in full at ECDA’s office when they started investigations. She then told headquarters verbally on Aug 17 that the videos were of a teacher force-feeding and smacking children,” he said.
Mr Seet said Kinderland launched a disciplinary inquiry the next day. The pre-school operator issued the teacher, 33-year-old Lin Min, a warning letter on Aug 22, based on its preliminary findings.
It fired her on Aug 28 after the inquiry was completed.
On Tuesday, Lin was charged in court with ill-treating a child.
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