Number of Foreign Domestic Workers who have Undergone Basic Eldercare Course

Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Health (a) how many foreign domestic workers (FDWs) have undergone the Agency for Integrated Care's Basic Eldercare Course; (b) what percentage of FDWs subsidised by the FDW grant and who are caring for elderly Singaporeans have undergone the course; and (c) how many FDWs have been trained under the eldercarer training scheme and have been deployed.

The Government has several schemes to support households with seniors with caregiving needs. For example, the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) administers the Caregiver’s Training Grant (CTG), which has been in place since 2007. This provides caregivers, including Foreign Domestic Workers (FDW), with up to $200 each year to attend suitable training courses on useful caregiving skills. To date, about 37,000 caregivers, including around 20,000 FDWs, have benefited from the CTG.

The FDW Grant (FDWG), which was introduced in 2012, supports lower and middle income families who need to hire a FDW to care for frail seniors and persons with moderate disabilities with a monthly grant of $120. 6,800 households caring for seniors are currently receiving the FDWG and all of them have either attended a CTG-approved course, or have received training at the hospitals. Of these, 4,400 tapped on the CTG for the training.

The Basic Eldercare Course is one of the courses supported under the CTG. It is a relatively new course that was started in late 2015. Since then, 167 FDWs have attended the course. Of these, 52 were employed by households also receiving the FDWG.

Leveraging on the Basic Eldercare Course, MOH and AIC started the Eldercarer FDW Scheme in November 2016. This enables households to employ FDWs who have been pre-trained in eldercare prior to placements with the families. Over two months, about 30 FDWs have been trained under the scheme, of which 25 have been placed with families. MOH and AIC are working with employment agencies, and healthcare and social service organisations to raise awareness of this new scheme so that we can serve more families with eldercare needs.