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Pre-school director says sorry for letter to parents offering ‘priority access’ to becoming grassroots leaders

SINGAPORE – The head of a MindChamps pre-school at Liang Court has apologised for a letter sent to parents, in which he claimed that they can get "priority access" to becoming grassroots leaders if they enroll their children with the centre.

SINGAPORE – The head of a MindChamps pre-school at Liang Court has apologised for a letter sent to parents, in which he claimed that they can get "priority access" to becoming grassroots leaders if they enroll their children with the centre.

The letter dated last Friday (July 27) also noted that as grassroots leaders, parents can receive recommendation letters to help their children with Primary 1 enrollment within the River Valley precinct.

It was signed off by Mr Ray Ong, who is the pre-school's centre director. Among other things, the letter also stated that the pre-school already assists River Valley Neighbourhood Committee (RVNC) in many activities. Parents whose children are enrolled at the centre can "take the lead to organise these activities to gain active grassroots leader status".

It added that to become an active grassroots leader, parents and guardians need to "participate actively in (the pre-school's) programme" and "organise up to two activities or major events".

"Our aim is to help parents ease the stress during the Primary 1 enrolment exercise, (and) at the same time, contribute back to society as well as foster greater synergy and 'espirit de corps' among (Singaporeans)," the letter said.

However, on Sunday, the RVNC said on its Facebook page that while MindChamps sent the letter "with good intention to encourage parents to contribute to the community", the information cited in the letter was "inappropriate and inaccurate".

The committee added that the letter was "prepared solely by the school", without consulting it.

RVNC said that it has since communicated with MindChamps and the pre-school was "apologetic" and agreed to retract the letter.

Responding to TODAY’s queries on Tuesday, Tanjong Pagar GRC Member of Parliament Joan Pereira, who is also the grassroots adviser for the area, said: “It was unfortunate that MindChamps sent out a factually inaccurate letter to parents.” 

RVNC has “no such arrangements with MindChamps or any other organisations”, she stressed. 

In an apology letter, which was also put up on RVNC's Facebook page, Mr Ong appealed for parents to "return the letter back to the school" and "disregard" its contents.

Reiterating that the letter was prepared by the pre-school without consulting RVNC and Mindchamps' head office, he said its content was "inaccurate and factually wrong".

MindChamps declined further comment when approached by TODAY.

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