When her 21-month old son came home from a pre-school centre in Telok Blangah, Ms Jacinta Pang would notice bumps on his head, and bruises on his leg.
“When he first started school, within the first week he had bump his head with a big baluku (bump), Ms Pang posted on her Facebook page on Tuesday. “I know all kids fell [sic] but the school didn’t contact me and let me know till I pick him up then the teacher told me that he had fell during lesson.”
Her son then fell ill for 3 weeks, she said, and did not return to school.
“When he started school again, he often came home with lots of bruises on his leg and there was once he even came home with a cut in his penis!” she said.
“I was very disturbed with what had happened and started asking my son if someone in the school had beaten him and I start naming the teacher to him. He said no to all the teachers except one of them where he kept quiet and he even hide under the blanket.”
Ms Pang said that she sensed that something was wrong then, and decided to make an appointment with the owner of the centre, the Raffles Early Learning Centre.
“During the meeting when I have share with him what had happened, he was very defensive and insisted that such things will not happen as the teachers are all professionally trained,” she wrote.
Ms Pang said she told the owner that she wasn’t there to find fault but to inform the school of what was happening to her son.
“The meeting didn’t end with a good note but he promised to look into it and get back to me,” she said.
The next three weeks, things seemed to be fine with her son.
However, on 22 June, she received a call from the school, telling her that her son had again fallen and knocked his head and sustained a deep cut.
She said she rushed down to the school when she received the call.
“I felt so sad that I allow my son to stay in the school despite signs that he had been mishandled!” she said.
“I have stopped him from going to school and will be withdrawing him from school,” Ms Pang added. “I hope all parents with young children will take my experience as a learning lesson. A school should be a safe and fun place to be in and he definitely don’t deserve all these.”
When the press approached the school and asked about the incident, a spokesman said the centre was looking into the matter.
The centre’s director, Mr James Wong, reportedly confirmed that Ms Pang had met him.
He said: “I know about the case, the accidents and so on.”
The press said Mr Wong “did not want to specifically address Ms Pang’s allegations.”
“I am not here to comment on whether this parent is right or wrong. She should be coming to us instead of writing on Facebook,” he was reported to have said.
“Right now we want the child to have a quick recovery from his fall. I only wish the child can recover and move on with his education,” he added.
Ms Pang also posted several photos of the injuries sustained by her son:
