Regulation and Assessment of MOE Kindergartens and Kindergarten Care Centres

Ms Eileen Chong Pei Shan asked the Minister for Education (a) whether Kindergarten Care (KCare) centres in MOE Kindergartens (MKs) are licensed under the Early Childhood Development Centres Act; (b) if not, what standards govern staff qualifications, staff-child ratio and children's safety and well-being while in KCare; and (c) whether and how the KCare component is separately specified and evaluated when Student Care Centre operators for schools co-located with MKs are appointed.

Ms Eileen Chong Pei Shan asked the Minister for Education (a) whether MOE Kindergartens (MKs) are assessed against the Early Childhood Development Centres Regulations 2018 and the Early Childhood Development Centres Code of Practice; (b) if so, by whom and how often; and (c) how many MKs have been assessed and how many required rectifications in the past decade.

My response will address the questions raised by Ms Eileen Chong on regulations and standards for MOE Kindergartens (MKs) and Kindergarten Care.

MOE Kindergartens are directly operated by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and are part of the primary schools they are located in. MKs are regulated under the Education Act, and are excluded from the Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDC) Act. MOE has put in place oversight structures and processes to ensure adherence to quality and safety standards in all schools, including MKs. All MKs also take reference from the ECDC Regulatory Standards prior to commencing operations.

MKs conduct a yearly self-appraisal and undergo regular validation exercises by MOE that take reference from the Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework under ECDA. MOE headquarters follows up to provide consultation and relevant support where needed.

Kindergarten Care (KCare) centres are operated by student care centre (SCC)-KCare operators. These operators are selected by considering how well the KCare component meets MOE's guidelines on staff qualifications and training, staff-to-child ratios, as well as programme implementation, environment setup and standard operating procedures to safeguard children's safety, health and well-being. Pre-operations checks are conducted to ensure each KCare centre meets baseline standards before commencing operations. To ensure that KCare centres are held to standards comparable to those required by ECDA on similar childcare services, MOE has put in place a KCare Quality Assurance Framework that takes reference from ECDA's Code of Practice for kindergarten-level childcare services. MOE conducts regular appraisals to ensure standards are maintained.

We will continue to work closely with ECDA in ensuring that our MKs provide quality preschool education for our children.