Family & gender

1,643 debates and bills about family & gender

16 Oct 2012

Update on Development Support Programme for Preschools

The Development Support Programme (DSP) was introduced to assist preschool children with mild speech, language, learning delays, and behavioural concerns through trained Learning Support Educators and therapy intervention.
The programme is being rolled out in phases, starting in May with a pilot in 30 childcare centres and kindergartens across several clusters, and has already enrolled 170 children.
Currently, 12 Learning Support Educators support the centres, with a target to train 40 educators within two years and ramp up capacity progressively.
The government expects to spend up to $30 million over the next five years as the programme expands nationwide.
A phased approach is used to gather feedback and refine the programme before wider rollout.

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16 Oct 2012

Correlation between Strong Housing Demand and Customary Beliefs

Gan Thiam Poh inquired whether pent-up housing demand in recent years could be attributed to customary beliefs or ethnic traditions tied to marriage and family formation, suggesting it might be temporary.
Khaw Boon Wan responded that there is no empirical or historical evidence to support this correlation, noting that eligible marriages for subsidized housing have remained stable at around 15,000 annually over the past decade.
He further clarified that no link exists between private housing demand and household formation trends.

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15 Oct 2012

Pre-school Education for Children from Low-income Families

The government has implemented a proactive outreach program since 2007 to identify and support low-income families with children not attending pre-school, involving multiple agencies and grassroots efforts.
Through house visits, financial assistance referrals, and casework support, the program has significantly reduced the percentage of children without pre-school education from 5% in 2006 to 0.8% in 2012.
The remaining cases involve children attending other enrichment programs or being home-schooled, and the government continues to work with partners to improve outreach and ensure access to pre-school education for disadvantaged families.

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15 Oct 2012

Addressing Prospect of New Immigrants Creating a Larger Elderly Population in Singapore

Pritam Singh questioned how new immigrants might unintentionally increase the elderly population for future Singaporeans to support, citing trends in marriage, singlehood, and declining fertility among PRs.
Teo Chee Hean highlighted Singapore’s sustained low total fertility rate, which has led to an ageing citizen population and projected decline from 2025 onward.
He noted that immigration can delay the ageing and shrinking of the citizen population, as detailed in a 2012 NPTD paper.
However, the government’s priority remains supporting Singaporeans to marry and have children, with immigration serving as a calibrated measure to mitigate demographic challenges.

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15 Oct 2012

Gender Differences in PSLE Performance

Between 2001 and 2011, girls consistently performed slightly better than boys in the PSLE, with two percentage points more girls in the top performance quintile and three to four percentage points fewer girls in the bottom quintile.
The Minister highlighted that such gender performance gaps are common globally, citing the 2009 PISA reading assessment where girls outperformed boys across all participating countries.
In Singapore, the gender difference in the 2009 PISA results was smaller than in most other countries and below the OECD average.
The data suggests girls hold an academic advantage over boys at the PSLE level, consistent with broader international trends.
The debate focused on examining whether these patterns indicate a sustained gender disparity in early academic performance.

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11 Sep 2012

Merging Oversight of Childcare and Pre-school Education Matters into One Ministry

R Dhinakaran proposed transferring childcare and pre-school oversight to the Ministry of Education during the restructuring of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.
Chan Chun Sing noted that while pre-school education is currently managed by two ministries, they already coordinate closely on policy and quality standards.
The government plans to establish a new statutory board to oversee early childhood education and care, serving as a single point for development and regulation.
The Ministry of Education and the new Ministry of Social and Family Development will collaborate on forming the statutory board, with further details to follow.

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11 Sep 2012

Plans of New Ministry of Social and Family Development

The new Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) will focus on enhancing social safety nets for low-income and needy individuals and families, addressing complex needs beyond financial assistance.
MSF will work with people and private sectors to improve the accessibility, affordability, and standards of social services for the elderly, persons with disabilities, and caregivers.
The ministry aims to strengthen families by creating a conducive environment for family formation and reviewing policies to better meet childcare and eldercare needs.
MSF will invest in developing the social service sector to attract and retain professionals, raise capabilities, and improve service coordination.

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10 Sep 2012

Allocation of New Void Deck Childcare Centres

The debate focused on the allocation of new void deck childcare centres to anchor operators like PAP Community Foundation (PCF) and NTUC First Campus, as well as non-profit operators, including details on grants and criteria.
Over the past 24 months, approximately 44% of childcare centres in HDB void decks are run by non-profit operators other than PCF and NTUC, with similar setup grants of about $100,000 for a normal-sized centre.
Allocations are decided based on resident profiles, housing types, existing centre mix, and community views, with sites for anchor operators split roughly equally between PCF and NTUC.
Anchor operators receive setup grants plus recurrent grants for salary support, while non-profit operators get setup grants but not the additional recurrent grants.
The Ministry considers various factors, including community input, to ensure a balanced distribution of childcare centres across different operators.

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10 Sep 2012

Domestic Violence amongst Live-in Partners

Mary Liew questioned the number of domestic violence reports from unmarried live-in partners over five years, measures to protect such women, and whether laws like Personal Protection Orders need review.
Teo Chee Hean stated that police do not track such cases separately and cannot provide specific statistics, but affirmed that existing laws like the Penal Code and Women’s Charter apply equally regardless of marital status.
Protection Orders under the Women’s Charter, along with non-legal interventions via the National Family Violence Networking System, are available to all victims, including those in unmarried live-in partnerships, with services like counselling and crisis shelters.

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10 Sep 2012

Number of Foreign Spouses with Long-Term Visit Passes and Take-up Rate for Long-Term Visit Pass Plus

Gan Thiam Poh asked for the current number of foreign spouses of Singaporeans holding Long-Term Visit Passes and the number of Long-Term Visit Pass Plus passes issued since its launch.
Teo Chee Hean replied that as of 31 July 2012, there were 9,154 foreign spouses of Singaporeans on Long-Term Visit Passes.
He also stated that the Long-Term Visit Pass Plus was implemented on 1 April 2012, and as of 31 July 2012, 2,334 LTVP+ passes had been issued to foreign spouses of Singaporeans.

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10 Sep 2012

Proposal for Transforming the Childcare Sector

Mr Yee Jenn Jong proposed transforming childcare into a public good with fair contestability, arguing that Anchor Operators receive disproportionate support leading to high fees and market distortion, and suggesting the government manage rents and allow all operators to compete for sites to lower costs and maintain quality.
Minister of State Halimah Yacob defended the current tiered support system, highlighting government efforts to increase accessibility, affordability, and quality through subsidies, grants, and the Anchor Operator scheme, which aims to serve low-to-middle-income families.
The debate underscored tensions between market-driven diversity and state intervention, with Mr Yee warning against policies that could stifle competition and innovation, while the government emphasized its commitment to continuous improvement and careful consideration of feedback.

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