Complaints of Alleged Abuse by Anchor Operator and Partner Operator Childcare Centre Staff
Ministry of Social and Family DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the number and outcome of investigations into alleged abuse by staff at Anchor and Partner Operator childcare centres over the past three years. Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee stated that the Early Childhood Development Agency investigates every report through unannounced visits and interviews, referring serious cases to the police. There was an average of 15 reported cases annually, with over 60% unsubstantiated and no teachers convicted under the Children and Young Persons Act. For substantiated isolated incidents like spanking or neglect, warning letters were issued to teachers, while centres with inadequate management support also received warnings. Additionally, the agency shortened the licence tenures of specific centres to ensure they implement better measures for classroom management and child safety.
Transcript
8 Ms Anthea Ong asked the Minister for Social and Family Development in the last three years (a) how many complaints has the Ministry received with regard to alleged abuse by staff in Anchor Operator and Partner Operator childcare centres; (b) how many of these complaints have been investigated; and (c) what are the outcomes of these investigations.
Mr Desmond Lee: The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) takes a serious view of child mismanagement in preschools. ECDA will investigate every reported case by conducting unannounced centre visits, interviews and verification of records.
For serious cases, such as where there appears to be clear intent to harm the child, the case will be referred to the police for criminal investigation. Depending on the nature of the offence, the perpetrator may be prosecuted under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA) or other laws.
Over the past three years, there was an average of 15 reported cases of alleged child mismanagement in Anchor Operator and Partner Operator centres annually. Of these, over 60% were unsubstantiated. For the other cases, ECDA had issued warning letters to teachers for acts such as spanking or neglecting of children. These were found to be isolated incidents. ECDA had also issued warning letters to selected centres and shortened their licence tenure for not having adequate measures in place to support teachers' classroom management. In this period, no teachers were convicted of an offence under the CYPA or any other law for child mismanagement.