SINGAPORE — A preschool teacher who was caught rough handling and hitting children in a series of viral video clips has since been dismissed from her job, Member of Parliament Poh Li San said on Monday (Aug 28). 

Addressing residents and parents of children attending Kinderland@Woodlands Mart, Ms Poh said that she is currently assisting the parents of the affected children and understands their concerns. 

"Such unprofessional acts certainly cannot be condoned and the staff must be brought to task," she said in a Facebook post on Monday. 

Ms Poh, who is the MP for Sembawang Group Representation Constituency, added: "I understand that the teacher has been dismissed and investigations by Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and the police are currently ongoing." 

In response to TODAY's queries, the police confirmed that reports have been lodged and investigations are ongoing.

The videos, posted on Facebook, show a teacher treating children roughly in a classroom setting. 

In one nine-second video, a boy is seen standing in the corner of the classroom while the teacher uses a book to hit his lower body repeatedly several times. 

At the end of the video, she yanks him by the hand and barks: "Go there!"

In another video, a boy is seen crying and resisting the teacher's attempt to get him to drink water. 

At one point, the teacher pushes his head back roughly several times while he cries and struggles to get out of her grip. 

In the last clip which was over four minutes long, the teacher is seen trying to get another girl to drink water.  

When the girl, who is sitting on the floor, refuses to drink, the teacher then lays her on the ground. 

Placing her hand on the girl's face to prevent her from moving, the teacher then pours water into the girl's mouth while the latter continues crying and struggling. Choking sounds and coughs can also be heard. 

The Facebook post has had more than 2,000 shares as of Monday 8pm.

In response to TODAY's queries, ECDA said that it is aware of this incident and is investigating the case. 

"As the case is under investigation by both ECDA and the police, we are unable to comment further on the details," the agency added. 

ECDA said that takes a serious view of any case of child mismanagement. 

"ECDA follows up on every alleged child mismanagement incident, such as through unannounced visits to preschools, interviews and verification of records," the agency said. 

"Immediate actions will be taken if our findings support the allegation. But we assure staff that false reports will also be acted on."

TODAY has reached out to Kinderland for comment.