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More pre-schools to close after Frobel owner is jailed

This article is more than 12 months old


Parents of about 200 children will have to find alternative pre-school places, with the closure of four more centres run by a company that is mired in lawsuits and of which the owner is in jail for contempt of court.

The pre-schools, owned by Friedrich Frobel Holding, are in Ang Mo Kio, Pasir Panjang, Woodlands and Rochester, and will close from Oct 12. Three others closed in the last two months, in Kallang, Namly Place and Sembawang.

Friedrich Frobel Holding is owned by Song Fanrong, 45, who is serving five months' jail for flouting a court order.

About 80 children were enrolled in the pre-schools that closed, and all of them have found a spot elsewhere.

The remaining centre not yet slated to close is in Cashew Terrace.

Neither the company nor Song's husband, Mr Teo Kuei Yang, responded to queries about its fate.

SUPPORT

Various agencies and community partners have been working to support families and centre staff affected by the closures, said the Early Childhood Development Agency, the Education Services Union, which represents pre-school teachers, the Ministry of Manpower and the police in a statement yesterday.

Song was jailed on Sept 11 for breaching the Mareva injunction by selling a stake of her kindergarten business, in defiance of a court order freezing her assets pending the outcome of another lawsuit.

On Sept 27, she was sentenced to five more months in jail for contempt of court, after her lawyer told the court she was "unable to raise any funds" to return the $300,000 she got from selling her stake.

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PRE-SCHOOLSMINISTRY OF MANPOWER (MOM)Ang Mo Kio