Ankui Gui has had his teacher's registration cancelled after he kissed a 3-year-old while he was a relief teacher.
An early childhood relief teacher who kissed a 3-year-old on the lips can now be named as Ankui Gui.
Gui, who relieved at New Shoots Hobsonville and Pascals Herne Bay early childhood centres in 2021, has had his registration cancelled by the Teacher’s Disciplinary Tribunal.
In a recent decision from the tribunal, it said on multiple occasions between April and May 2021, Gui engaged in inappropriate physical contact with several children.
Gui’s conduct was repeated, directed at multiple students, and occurred over several instances while he was employed as a relief teacher by the Jitbug early childhood education recruitment agency.
It included kissing a 3-year-old child on the lips on at least two occasions and kissing the hand of another 4-year-old child.
At least one child felt uncomfortable enough to report the conduct to her parents, who then alerted staff.
Despite being warned about the inappropriateness of such conduct while working at New Shoots, Gui continued to engage in similar conduct at Pascals.
Gui and the centres he taught at had interim name suppression at a previous hearing in 2024, which has now lapsed. Both centres have been approached for comment.
At the hearing, the tribunal heard from one of Gui’s former colleagues, who said she had seen him kiss a 3-year-old boy on the lips on two occasions.
The tribunal heard Gui also allegedly tickled and then kissed the hand of a 4-year-old girl.
Her father gave evidence at the hearing, saying his daughter wouldn’t normally discuss teacher conduct but following the incident she did, which prompted him to eventually raise it with the centre.
Another teacher at the centre said she watched Gui nuzzle his head into a 3-year-old girl’s chest while she was standing on a wooden box on the playground.
New Zealand Teacher’s Disciplinary Tribunal chair Jamie O’Sullivan said in her final decision Gui’s conduct was not isolated or accidental but “demonstrated a concerning pattern of inappropriate physical contact with multiple children across two early childhood centres”.
Gui told the tribunal he accepted some aspects of the conduct but maintained that his actions were not intended to be harmful or sexually improper.
He explained that physical affection is viewed differently in his culture and expressed regret for not appreciating New Zealand’s professional boundaries sooner.
Gui also raised concerns about language barriers affecting his understanding of feedback from colleagues.
He said he did not intend to return to teaching in New Zealand.
O’Sullivan said the conduct seemed to not be sexual in nature, but the tribunal’s view was that Gui still did not fully appreciate why what he did was wrong.
“He trained in New Zealand and he was spoken to repeatedly during the time period of the charged conduct and yet his inappropriate conduct continued, including against a young child who was not even a learner at the second centre,” she said.
Gui’s registration was cancelled and he was censured for serious misconduct.
“This marks the tribunal’s disapproval and serves as a warning to others in the profession,” O’Sullivan said.
The public register will be annotated for a period of 18 months and there were a number of conditions Gui had to follow if he wished to resume teaching in New Zealand.
Jitbug operations manager Shefali Patel told NZME that upon being informed of incidents, it immediately commenced an internal review and stood Gui down while the process was undertaken.
“At Jitbug, the safety and wellbeing of children is of the utmost importance. We take matters of this nature very seriously and maintain comprehensive safety screening procedures for all relief staff,” she said.
“This includes a seven-step safety checking process incorporating identity verification, reference checks, and police vetting, all of which were satisfactorily completed prior to engagement.
“We understand the trust that families, centres, and communities place in us, and we remain committed to maintaining high standards of professionalism, care, and child safety across all of our services.”
Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.