The Star Online: Lifestyle: Parenting
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Parenting |
| Posted: When you enrol your child in a kindergarten, you hope she learns some fundamental things that prepare her for primary school. In addition, it is also hoped that she will make new friends and enjoy her journey into the world of learning. There is some level of trust placed in the school and its staff. You assume your child will not be put at risk and will be safe from harm. However, this is not always the case …. Anonymous: "I was a kindergarten teacher in charge of the three-year-olds. My eldest child was also attending the kindergarten and I had a newborn baby. There was a good teacher who was asthmatic. We became good friends and when I needed to travel, she would stay at my house to take care of my kids. After some time, she started to fall ill often. I and many other teachers suspected she had TB. She had all the symptoms and she had been travelling a lot to her hometown prior to that and her hometown had a high incidence of TB. She told me that she was going to see the doctor for a full medical checkup. She was very secretive after that, refusing to reveal her illness. A few days later, my principal informed me that this teacher was going to be on three months' sick leave. I questioned if it was TB. All my principal said was that it was private and confidential. Every day at work, I kept pressing for the truth but the principal kept insisting it was private and confidential. When I told her about the children who were exposed, all she said was they had no symptoms. She even bragged that one of the parents, who was a doctor, said that it was not serious and that we shouldn't cause a panic. This was not the only 'cover up'. Three of my students were down with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), but the cases were also not reported. I found out about the HFMD cases when the parents of one of the children asked me what type of school this was and why no proper precautions were taken to clean the school and inform the other parents. I eventually resigned because I was not happy with the situation and neither did I feel safe, putting my children at risk. On my last day of work, I went to the government clinic as my baby was ill. Imagine my surprise when the doctor looked at me and chastised me for not coming in sooner for a medical checkup! She told me that a teacher at the kindergarten had had TB and as such everyone there had been exposed to it. She also informed me that the kindergarten had an obligation to inform all parents and staff. The doctor then said she would inform the authorities about this. Both my children had to go for X-rays and the Mantoux test, where a tiny amount of the TB virus is injected under the skin. I had to go for an X-ray. My elder daughter and I tested negative but my baby was positive. The next few months were bad. She had more blood tests and she suffered so much. Her case was then transferred to the General Hospital and the Paediatric Specialist for Infectious Diseases ordered another blood test. This meant more tests and more needles being stuck into her. She seems to be in the clear now, but the hospital keeps calling us back for checkups as part of the procedure for TB-exposed patients. I think it is the responsibility of the kindergarten to inform the parents if there is any TB, HFMD or infectious disease within the school community. Parents would actually be happy if they were informed. Keeping a secret like this is just not fair to the students and parents. Kids below two and babies can actually die from TB because there's no right way of knowing fast enough if they have it." Adele Kueh, homemaker and babysitter: "My daughter Charlotte was attending this kindergarten for three months. She was two years old then and still couldn't speak, except for a bit of baby language. I'm a single mum and she is my only child. I decided to send her to the kindergarten hoping she would learn to speak and pick up some English words and make new friends. The problems began in the second month. My daughter did not follow the instructions given so the main teacher decided to punish her by asking her to stand outside the classroom. What can we expect from a two-year-old child? The other children were not allowed to talk to her. I found out about this when the principal sent Charlotte home.  Charlotte was punished at age two-plus for not following instructions. I asked the principal if the teacher made any attempt to explain to Charlotte why she was punished and give her a hug after that. The principal said no. I called the teacher and asked her not to do it again and she did not appreciate this. I did not want Charlotte to have low self-esteem and feel bad without understanding why. I had another issue with this teacher when she ridiculed me in front of another teacher. When I called the principal to ask for an apology, she said it was a joke and that she wouldn't ask the teacher to apologise. I got no refund when I took my child out of the school. My daughter is now studying in a new school which she loves." Yvonne Wong, finance process consultant: "My daughter Nathalie started school in August 2012. She was 1 1/2 years old then. It was actually a daycare cum kindergarten. Her class consisted of children between the ages of one and three. She was bitten on the cheek on the first day of school. She was extremely traumatised. The principal kept apologising after the first time she was bitten and we accepted it as we thought it was quite normal for a child to be excited and not know how to express her love, except by biting. The principal attempted to resolve the issue by talking to the other girl's parents. The principal also promised that the teachers and staff would keep an eye on that child. We suggested that the girl be quarantined as she had exhibited violent behaviour and could hurt the other kids as well. Nathalie was bitten again on another day. She became reluctant to go to school. The moment she saw the school uniform she would cry non-stop and hold my hubby tightly refusing to go to school. The third time she was bitten, the principal promised to dismiss the child from the school but the parents would need to be given a month's notice so they could look for another daycare centre. We totally understood and were happy with this resolution. She also promised to quarantine the girl in the principal's personal rest area. The next day, Nathalie was bitten again. It was the fourth time and on the same night she had a high fever. We were so worried that the bite from the child had caused her to have a fever. However, the doctor later identified a lung infection as the cause. Nathalie had been bitten four times in the two months she was there. We decided to withdraw her from the school. Nathalie now has a new kindergarten and she is happy to put on her school uniform and go to school every day." SL: "My daughter's school has a lot of holidays – the Malaysian public holidays as well as the international school holidays, and days between holidays, which they term 'bridge holidays'. This all turns out to be very inconvenient for working parents like us. When we question it, they say that it is determined by the international school, which seems to be a way of passing the buck. Furthermore, when there are any issues, such as HFMD in the area or the haze, the kindergarten will close for extended periods of time, for example, up to 10 days or two weeks. Again, this is very inconvenient for working parents like us. It is possible that they are more liberal with taking holidays being under the impression that many mothers in this international school are not working, being wives of expats. I believe this is a convenient assumption to make that inconveniences working parents. As it is, we pay an exorbitant sum for fees – about RM17,000 per year, and much of the year is taken up by holidays. Summer holidays themselves are 1.5 months in duration. In addition, given the exorbitant fees, which cover only the hours between 8am and 1pm, I am not happy when I am demanded to pay for one-off activities that I didn't request for. A case in point was when the kindergarten got a clown to come in and entertain the kids. I hadn't requested or agreed to the clown, and yet I was demanded to pay the amount. And when I queried this payment, they asked me not to bring my child in that day! Hopefully, the staff in this international school may one day realise that even though they have been employed by the government of their country, it is we parents who pay the fees." What parents can do Jayawathi Perera, chairman of the Malaysian Association of Kindergartens advises parents to carefully choose a kindergarten for their child. "Parents should take their child to the school and see if this is a school the child is happy to go to, rather than shopping from one school to the next," she says. The Malaysian Association of Kindergartens is an NGO and its main aim since it was founded in the 1970s is to train preschool teachers. Perera advises parents: - Be careful when choosing a kindergarten. Look for a school that your child is comfortable and happy in. - Look for the licence given by the state education department (it is normally framed up and hanging in the principal's room). - Read the fine print when registering to check if you will be able to get any refund if you withdraw your child. - Parents should try resolving any issues with the school. - If that doesn't work, and it's very serious, and the parents want to lodge a complaint, it should be filed with the state education department. All private kindergartens have to register with the state education office, which hands out the kindergartens' licence to operate. This licence needs to be renewed annually. Regardless of whether it is a government or private kindergarten, parents can lodge a complaint against the school with the state education department. - Before filing a complaint, parents should preferably have all the facts and evidence, otherwise it will just be a case of your word against the school's word. Conclusion Perera says kindergartens should send their teachers for the training organised by the association. Besides skills training, it also covers health education, which would help teachers identify if a child has any illnesses or disease, and what to do about it. This would help them identify children who have HFMD and action can be taken quickly to inform all parents and the health authorities. This way, the children and school staff will not be at risk of contracting the disease. At the end of the day, Perera believes that both parties should be able to resolve any issue.  Jayawathi Perera: 'Why can't they talk it out?' "I don't see why the problem can't be resolved by the school and the parents. Why can't they talk it out? "I think when you go to the education office, it must be so bad that you can't settle it with the school. For example, if parents have a problem with the teacher, they should talk to the principal. But some parents are very aggressive and because they are paying customers, they think they need a certain amount of service. The principal has to practise good PR, too. But I think a lot of things can be resolved by the school," she sums up. Do you have a kindergarten horror story to share? Send it to parenthots@thestar.com.my. We want to hear from you. |
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