Nothing untoward in feedback about Little Professors Learning Centre before termination: MOE

SINGAPORE: There was "nothing untoward" in the feedback the Ministry of Education (MOE) received about Little Professors Learning Centre (LPLC) before its services were terminated, Senior Minister of State for Education Janil Puthucheary said in parliament on Monday (Mar 2).

Dr Puthucheary was responding to MP Shawn Loh (PAP-Jalan Besar), who asked about MOE’s whistleblowing policies, highlighting that parents had shared with him that they felt like the incident could have been possibly preventable.

“Parents in Whampoa and Boon Keng estates told me that they had given feedback about the deteriorating quality of the student care centre last year. 

"So when MOE said that they only found out about it in February this year, the parents told me that this did not gel with the feedback they had given,” he said.

In response, Dr Puthucheary shared that the ministry had gone back to review the complaints and feedback about LPLC over the last year.

"There were a variety of things, indeed, some of the feedback was about, for example, the quality of food, another child's behaviour to a parent's child, reports on services or the teachers and we also had a couple of reports from the teachers as employees," he said.

"There was nothing untoward in the feedback that we have received from Little Professors, and nothing different from what we had seen across other operators."

He added that there was a serious incident in February, prompting MOE to take action as soon as it received the information.

“We had, as our first priority, stepped in to provide care for the children and then subsequently, when there were some issues to do with the finances highlighted, we made a police report and that matter is under investigation,” he said.

LPLC's services were terminated by MOE on Feb 14 amid investigations into unpaid staff salaries and double deductions from parents' GIRO accounts. A police report has been filed over the fee anomalies.

The centre director could not be contacted.

The private operator ran student care centres in eight primary schools – Anchor Green, Jing Shan, Kranji, Punggol Cove, Waterway, Westwood, Hong Wen and White Sands.

It also provided Kindergarten Care for MOE’s kindergartens in six of these primary schools.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

On MOE’s whistleblowing policies, he said that parents can provide feedback directly to operators, schools or MOE. 

Last year, MOE directly received a total of 212 emails and phone calls providing feedback on student care centres and kindergarten care centres.

“We've reviewed all of them and followed up with the schools and operators when needed,” he said. 

Dr Puthucheary added that prior to the incident with LPLC, MOE did not have any cause to terminate the services of any school-based student care centre and kindergarten care operator. 

"Nevertheless, we do recognise that there is room for improvement within the sector to provide better services, to strengthen the resilience of operators, and to better monitor the service provision," he said. 

"We are further reviewing our processes for selecting and monitoring student care centres and kindergarten care operators."

Providing an update on the affected centres, Dr Puthucheary said the schools have stepped in to provide interim after-school support.

Staff members have been deployed on a rotational basis and schools have engaged relief manpower, including retired school staff, flexi-adjunct teachers and external instructors.

“All affected schools have been able to continue providing afterschool care for students,” he said, expressing his gratitude to all who have stepped in to help.

He added that school staff members who have put in additional contributions during the interim period will be recognised.

The ministry is sourcing new operators to provide after-school care at the affected schools.

VETTING OPERATORS

Responding to questions filed by Members of Parliament (MPs) about how MOE vets operators, Dr Puthucheary said that as part of the selection process, operators have to demonstrate adequate financial standing before they are considered.

After they are appointed, MOE and schools maintain oversight and monitor their performance in terms of how well they are providing their services, he said.

Since January last year, all contracts that have been awarded require yearly submission of audited financial statements.

“It's an evolving series of mechanisms. We await the investigations as to what happened in this incident, and we'll see whether there are lessons learnt that will inform us about whether we need to put in further mechanisms going forward,” he said.

In the meantime, MOE is working with the National Trades Union Congress and the Education Services Union, which are supporting affected staff members with short-term financial relief, job referrals and career guidance. 

“MOE and schools have also been able to employ and pay former LPLC staff in their original centres if they are keen to do so, until a permanent operator is appointed,” he said.

“This will provide some financial stability for these affected staff in the interim while they continue to care for our students.”