Preschool Kinderland's brand sentiment plummets as abuse video circulates

published

author

share on

Well known preschool chain Kinderland’s brand sentiment has plummeted after it made headlines for alleged abuses of its students by a teacher who has since been arrested. The circulating videos and news of the incident, has seen brand sentiments for the trusted Kinderland brand plummet with online association being largely negative at 61.3%, according to media intelligence firm CARMA.

While prior to the incident, Kinderland saw references to its fees, programmes, and access, things drastically changed following the incident. After the incident, Kinderland saw themes such as mistreatment, CCTVs, hitting and more coming up and dominating its word cloud, according to CARMA.

Before:

After:

In the videos circulating, the teacher is seen trying to force children to drink water by pulling their heads back and pouring liquid into their mouths while making them lie on the floor. In one clip, the teacher is also seen hitting a child with a book and shouting at them. The videos appeared to have been filmed at Kinderland Preschool @ Woodlands Mart which is located within the Sembawang West ward of Member of Parliament Poh Li San.

In response to the video, Kinderland issued a statement saying that the preschool was made aware of the videos when the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) contacted Kinderland on 17 August 2023 for an investigation. Three Kinderland Woodlands Mart staff members also ECDA on 17 August 2023, and one on 18 August.

"The staff were shown the videos and advised to review Teacher A’s behaviour. ECDA also imparted to the staff some guidelines on dealing with this incident: reaching out to the parents of the affected children, reporting the investigation to the Kinderland HQ and a proposed action plan to deal with the matter at hand," it said.

Kinderland then started a disciplinary inquiry where it addressed the issue with the teacher and counselled her. It added that the principle of the affected brand reached out to parents to inform them and apologise.

"The principal also asked after the well-being of their children and their feelings towards school. All three parents said that they did not notice anything amiss, nor any physical injuries and that their children were behaving normally," it said. The teacher was subsequently dismissed on 28 August.

Around the same time that videos surfaced from Kinderland Preschool @ Woodlands Mart, another video came about on 29 August on social media showing a teacher hitting a boy on his head at the Choa Chu Kang centre, according to Kinderland in its statement. "The principal of the centre has likewise reached out to the parents of the boy and offered our apologies. She has also filed a report to ECDA and the teacher has been suspended," it said.

The school added that going forward, it would be enhancing its current policies to manage the mental health of new and current teachers and that it will expand the installation of CCTVs in all classrooms and children activity areas at these two centres.

Join #PRAsia on 2 November in Singapore and 8 November in Malaysia, connecting 100+ PR and communication leaders worldwide to share ideas, forge partnerships, and unlock endless possibilities.

Related articles:Pat's Schoolhouse undergoes major brand refresh with name and curriculum changes6 primary schools collaborate to programme sustainability and metaverse in minds of studentsMicrosoft partners with universities to allow the use of generative AI in school

share on

We break down the big and messy topics of the day so you're updated on the most important developments in Asia's marketing development – for free.