Reports of suspected abuse of kids in pre-schools rise in 2024

Investigations into the mishandling of children in Singapore preschools have risen, largely prompted by heightened vigilance and the availability of video evidence over the past year.

- Syarafana Shafeeq

CCTV cameras have been made mandatory in all preschools here since July 2024.

In 2024, 227 cases of suspected child mismanagement were investigated, up from 169 in 2023, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said in response to queries from The Sunday Times.

Child mismanagement refers to actions that compromise a child’s safety or well-being, such as intentional neglect or corporal punishment, said ECDA.

Its Early Childhood Development Centres’ 2025 Code of Practice spells out in detail actions that staff must not commit, which include striking or shoving a child, shouting, using verbal or physical threats, and causing psychological trauma.

As at Oct 31, ECDA had investigated 195 such cases. The agency said that in 2024, the number of substantiated cases those proven through investigation - stood at 35 per 100,000 enrolled children, higher than the 2023 average of 26 per 100,000.

It attributed the increase in the number of investigations and confirmed cases to greater vigilance and awareness among educators and parents to identify and report incidents, as well as the wider availability of CCTV footage.

Two fresh cases of preschool abuse surfaced in court this week.

On Nov 21, a woman was hauled to court after she allegedly hit an eight-month-old baby’s head, and hit another 16-month-old toddler while feeding milk to him.

A day earlier, on Nov 20, a preschool teacher was charged with ill-treating children after it was alleged that she force-fed a one-year-old child until she vomited, and stuffed a bib into another baby's mouth.

Former pre-school cook Teo Guan Huat, 61, was also sentenced to over nine years in jail on Nov 10 for molesting three girls, aged one to two, while they napped at the school between May and November 2023.

The man's crimes were caught on the school's CCTV system by an employee, but the footage was erased, and the police were alerted only weeks later.