Debated in Parliament on 14 Oct 2025.
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Social and Family Development whether the Ministry will consider improving staff-to-children ratio for MOE-run kindergartens and Government-supported preschools, to better support both early childhood educators and parents.
The staff-to-children ratio requirements for Ministry of Education-run kindergartens and Government-supported preschools are minimum requirements to ensure the safety and well-being of children. In practice, kindergartens and preschools can and do operate with more staff than required.
Improving the well-being of early childhood educators goes beyond improving the staff-to-children ratio. The Ministry of Social and Family Development has shared the various measures by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) to improve educators' well-being and working conditions, in a reply to an earlier Parliamentary Question on 2 July 2024. [Please refer to "Child Abuse Cases in Preschools and Teacher Support Measures Identified", Official Report, 2 July 2024, Vol 95, Issue 137, Written Answers to Questions section.]
Measures included removing the requirement for childcare centres to operate on Saturdays from January 2025 and designating Teachers' Day and Children's Day as preschool holidays, on top of six Development Days from 2024 onwards. Since October 2024, ECDA has also appointed relief staff service providers for preschools to tap on, to enable educators to take time off to attend to their personal and professional needs.
ECDA has also introduced various initiatives to better support the professional development of our early childhood educators. Educators and leaders may continue to deepen their skills and competencies and benefit from improved career progression through various available professional development opportunities, such as the Professional Development Programmes and Continuing Professional Development courses, to allow them to have more meaningful careers in the sector.
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