Debated in Parliament on 8 Jan 2025.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Early Childhood Development Agency takes into consideration the distance between the home and childcare centre, such as within a one kilometre radius, for the prioritisation of childcare slots in the event that a childcare centre reaches maximum capacity; and (b) if not, why not.
The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) plans for preschool places to meet anticipated enrolment demand. It considers various factors including demographic trends, projected resident birth rates, enrolment patterns and availability of preschool places within each Planning Area. From 2018 to 2024, we have added more than 40,000 full-day preschool places, or a 25% increase. Today, there are over 200,000 full-day preschool places, which is more than sufficient to meet demand at both the national and Planning Area levels.
Nevertheless, demand can exceed supply in a small number of districts due to varying parental preferences and the lead-time needed to set up new centres or expand existing centres. ECDA prioritises the expansion of capacity in such districts.
Preschool operators, including those under the Anchor Operator and Partner Operator schemes, generally manage enrolment on a first-come, first-served basis. When a preschool approaches its maximum capacity, the operator will prioritise new enrolment by considering factors, such as whether the child has a sibling already enrolled in the centre and the distance from the child's home to the preschool.
ECDA also encourages parents to broaden their choices by considering centres with available vacancies in adjacent neighbourhoods, near their workplaces or the grandparents' homes. To better assist parents in this effort, ECDA has designed a new preschool search function on LifeSG, which allows parents to look for preschools with available vacancy in a given locale and directly liaise with preschools on enrolment matters.
PAPERCUTS