ECDA fines pre-school $26,200, bans 3 employees from sector

Agency restricts all new enrolments and cuts school's licence tenure from 36 months to six

- Nadine Chua

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has handed financial penalties to a preschool and restricted the enrolment of new children after its former cook molested three toddlers at the school.

ECDA has also taken action against four management staff members, including banning three of them from working in the preschool sector.

In a statement on Oct 29, ECDA said its investigations into the safety procedures of the school found multiple breaches which compromised children’s safety.

This comes after preschool cook Teo Guan Huat, 61, admitted on Oct 27 to sexually assaulting three girls aged one to two while they napped at the school between May and November 2023.

His crimes were caught on the school’s CCTV system, but the footage was erased, and the police were alerted only weeks later.

The preschool cannot be named due to a court-imposed gag order to protect the victims’ identities.

ECDA imposed $26,200 in financial penalties on the preschool in May 2024. The agency also restricted all new enrolments there and shortened the school’s licence tenure from 36 months to six months.

ECDA also directed the preschool to submit a corrective action plan to ensure the safety of the children on its premises, which the school submitted in June 2024.