Shortage of Childcare Facilities in Sengkang and Punggol

Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Acting Minister for Social and Family Development how does the Ministry determine where to site new infant care, childcare and student care centres and whether mature estates, such as MacPherson, will be considered.

Ms Lee Li Lian asked the Acting Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry will allow childcare centres to be set up at school premises; and (b) for Punggol East where there is a lack of suitable premises at HDB estates for childcare centres, whether part of school premises or building extensions of existing school premises can be allocated for the setting up of childcare centres.

Mdm Speaker, Ms Tin Pei Ling asked about the siting of infant care, childcare and student care services. The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) monitors the demand for childcare services across various estates, including MacPherson, and initiates development of new centres or expand existing ones in high demand areas.

Dr Lam Pin Min asked about the development plans for childcare centres in Punggol and Sengkang. Ms Lee Li Lian asked about the development of childcare centres in Punggol East. These are estates with a higher proportion of families with young children.

Since 2008, 37 additional centres have been set up in Punggol and Sengkang. For Sengkang, 14 more centres will be developed within the next two years, and another nine centres are slated for development by 2018. For Punggol, 14 more centres will be developed within the next two years and another 12 by 2018. ECDA is working with HDB to pre-build childcare facilities alongside upcoming BTO projects. As part of this effort, there will be a childcare centre within Rivervale Arc which will be completed in the first quarter of 2015.

Ms Lee asked about the setting up of childcare centres at school premises. In general, ECDA is open to exploring alternative premises beyond HDB sites for the development of childcare centres. For instance, to raise capacity, ECDA is looking into the use of other premises such as workplaces, disused facilities and integrated developments. Each specific site will have to be assessed according to feasibility, while ensuring that the development does not adversely affect existing needs. In the case of schools, the physical capacity of the school and educational experience of the school-going children would have to be part of the considerations.

For student care centres, MSF will continue to work with MOE to support schools in their collaboration with student care providers to provide additional support for students.

I thank the Acting Minister for the reply. I would like to ask, firstly, how demand is determined. I am asking this because even for mature estates, there are BTO projects coming up and I anticipate that young families would be moving in. So, I think that there would be an increase in demand for childcare, student care and even infant care services.

The second reason is that there are also low-income families, for example, in MacPherson, and sometimes these young families with children may not surface in a conventional way and they go to a childcare centre to demand for childcare. But from observation, it is with the availability of childcare that young mothers especially can be freed up, comforted in the knowledge that their children can be taken care of, and that they can go out to find a job to supplement their household income. I would like to ask the Acting Minister if the Ministry would also provide funding to help build or retrofit some of the existing buildings to allow for the provision of additional childcare services in mature estates such as MacPherson.

Mdm Speaker, let me thank Ms Tin Pei Ling for the questions. The answer to the first question is that demand is determined by a few factors. We know that, generally, childcare places are sited either near their own homes, the parents' workplace or the grandparents' place. So, how we determine demand is based on the cohort size in the respective estates. We also take in feedback from the respective community leaders, if they see a demand for such a service. We also look at the queue at the existing childcare places in the vicinity so that we have a sense of what is the demand.

As to Ms Tin's question that there will be some parents who might need childcare but may not have approached their community leaders, this is where we appeal to the various community leaders to work with us. If they know of such cases, do bring such needy families' children to the childcare centre and we will find some ways to support them.

So, this is, in general, how we determine where to set up childcare centres. It is based on the numbers that we have on hand and it is also based on the feedback from the community leaders. For example, we also understand that in Sengkang and Punggol, generally the younger families there have less grandparents' support, so they will need a bit more childcare places. And we have catered for it accordingly.

On the last issue, yes, we do provide grants to help childcare operators to retrofit some of the existing places and our aim is to make sure that we continue to expand the mass market options to provide affordable childcare services to those who need it.

I would like to thank the Acting Minister for the reply and also the Ministry for working with my grassroots organisations to help identify potential void deck sites for conversion to childcare centres. Since the past few years, we have converted almost all available spaces but, unfortunately, due to the extremely high demand for childcare facilities, the waiting list still runs into the hundreds. I would like to urge the Ministry to place Sengkang and Punggol in their priority list.

I would also ask the Acting Minister what quick short-term measures can MSF provide to address this shortage in the coming months and up to the next one or two years.

Mdm Speaker, in response to Dr Lam Pin Min's question, yes, Sengkang and Punggol are on our radar screen. We know, as I have mentioned, that there is a high proportion of young families and many of these young families do not have grandparents' support. In catering to the needs of Sengkang and Punggol, we have catered for above what we provide for nationally, which is about one in three, or one in two.

We also understand that some of the flats in Sengkang and Punggol do not have the necessary void deck spaces, which is why we are working with the community leaders to convert other places in an innovative manner. Some of the feedback and ideas that we have heard from community leaders include using temporary sites at empty plots of land by using temporary containers. We have also heard other ideas where community leaders have offered places in their community centres; other community leaders have suggested the use of under-utilised car parks. So, these are all places that we will look into and will work together with the community leaders to bring them about, if they are feasible.

I thank the Acting Minister for his reply. Like Sengkang and Punggol, Punggol East has an acute shortage as well. Are there any possibilities to see any new childcare centres up by 2014? The stated timeline was by the first quarter of 2015 – some of them just cannot wait that long.

Mdm Speaker, I thank Ms Lee for the question. When we address the issues, we address them holistically as a town, not just Punggol East but the whole Sengkang town. While there might not be immediate sites available in Punggol East, we will try to look for other places within the Sengkang town so that the whole place can share the facilities together, in particular in Rivervale Arc where there will be a place that will be pre-built into the estate and that will be coming up quite soon.

Mdm Speaker, I would like to ask the Acting Minister not to forget about the other estates like Sembawang as well, where there is a huge proportion of young families. I would also like to ask the Acting Minister whether there is any possibility, in the short term, to relax the criteria of manpower restrictions on the quota of childcare centres. It is not only just physical environment, the problem is that there are not enough teachers.

Mr Chan Chun Sing : Mdm Speaker, let me thank Dr Lim for his questions and comments. Yes, we have Sembawang as we have everybody on our radar screen. In fact, I think some of you may have received letters from my Ministry. We are going through town by town to meet the respective community leaders to discuss with them on the local solutions. So, it is not macro planning. We are actually meeting all the community leaders, estate by estate, to address their needs. There will be need even in the older towns because some of the parents will leave their children with the grandparents. So, we fully understand that.

On the issue about relaxing the manpower criteria, I just like to provide the other perspective, which is that the numbers are there for a purpose because we want to give the parents an assurance on the quality. So, if the childcare providers are able to give us the assurance, and also give the parents the assurance, that the quality is not compromised, we can look at it to see how we can adjust some of these issues. But many of the childcare operators have also come back and share with us that they do not want to have too high a ratio, meaning that one teacher taking too many students, because it affects the quality of care. So, this is where we have to strike a balance.

On the manpower side, we are continuing to increase the supply of manpower through two tracks. One is direct recruitment from the Polytechnics and the institutes responsible for training of childcare teachers. On this aspect, we do train many people. Our challenge is not so much of training them. Our challenge is to make sure that those who are trained come in and join the sector and also stay in the sector.

The other prong of the manpower approach has to do with increasing the number that we can recruit from the mid-stream recruitment. This could be part-timers who want to return to work. This is how we try to increase the overall manpower. I will be making more comprehensive announcements in a few months' time on the various tracks that we are tapping on to increase the manpower. But we are certainly aware that manpower is a critical issue.

Thank you, Mdm Speaker. I want to thank the Acting Minister for his considerate approach in addressing the critical childcare issues all across Singapore. In the case of Sengkang and Punggol, I want to also echo Dr Lam Pin Min and Dr Lim Wee Kiak's sentiments on convertible void deck space. In cases where there is limit in how many void decks can be converted, can the Minister seriously consider and expedite building of childcare centres on state land and open plots of land, even if they might cost a little bit more? It might address the issue much more efficiently than trying to convert unconvertible void deck spaces.

In the case of shortage of teachers, that is also a very real issue. While we are awaiting more teachers to be trained, which will take two to three years, is it possible to consider having teaching aides, for example, maybe two attached to a class so that the class size can also be enlarged without compromising the care given to some of these students?

Mdm Speaker, let me thank Miss Penny Low for her suggestions. Yes, indeed, we are actively working with the land agencies and HDB to see where we can expedite the building of some childcare centres at vacant plots in Punggol and Sengkang particularly. On the second issue about teacher ratio, let me explain that we have started to work on the pipeline about two years back, ever since I joined the Ministry. So, the pipeline will be coming onstream soon. The other matter that I must also share with Members of this House is that we have already reviewed that particular suggestion and, indeed, we have implemented that.

For example, some of the classes used to be one is to eight, that is, one teacher to eight students. We have since reviewed that last year where we gave the option of one-plus-one is to 12, that is, one qualified teacher plus one para edu-carer, so that the para edu-carer can perform some of the care functions that are not directly related to teaching. With that, we have also increased the capacity for many of the childcare centres that have the available space. Through this approach, whereby we give 50% extra by employing the para-personnel, we increase the capacity and, at the same, we also provide more employment opportunities for part-timers who may not be fully trained in the profession. But over time, some of these para-personnel, once they are in the industry, can also be attracted to upgrade themselves and become a full-time teacher. We have tried these methods since last year.