Alternative Care Arrangements when Childcare Centres Close Due to Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

6 Mr Ang Hin Kee asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the current status of the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) in childcare centres and preschools; (b) whether more support can be given to parents who have to make alternative arrangements when their children are unable to attend school; and (c) how effective has the Ministry been in tackling challenges faced by parents who have insufficient childcare leave, whose children contracted HFMD more than once in a year, or who are unable to seek childcare support from family members.

The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Tan Chuan-Jin): Mdm Speaker, the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) is a generally mild disease which is endemic in Singapore. Preventive measures are in place to minimise the transmission of HFMD in preschools. It is a regulatory requirement for preschools to conform to the Ministry of Health's (MOH) guidelines for the prevention and control of infectious diseases. I would want to repeat that while it is endemic, it is generally a mild disease. Guidelines include conducting daily health and temperature checks upon arrival, ensuring appropriate hand-washing by staff and children, and having an unwell child rest at the designated sickbay while waiting for the parent or an authorised person to bring the child home.

Centres with two or more suspected or confirmed HFMD cases are required to report the cases to the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and to MOH. Centres are also required to implement enhanced measures to manage the outbreak of HFMD and are encouraged to conduct self-assessments on health and hygiene.

Centres that experience a high number of sustained cases over a period of time may be required to close. We understand that this would cause inconvenience to parents. However, it is a useful step to break the cycle of transmission of the disease. Over the past three years, there have not been more than five centre closures every year. Additionally, there have not been local cases in preschools with severe complications due to HFMD.

To support working parents in caring for their young children, the Government has enhanced child and infant care leave provisions over the years. Each working parent with children below the age of seven has six days of childcare leave per year, or a total of 12 days of childcare leave for every couple. Each parent is also entitled to six days of unpaid infant care leave per year during the child's first two years. These childcare and infant care leave provisions are in addition to the parents' annual leave provisions. We also recognise that grandparents and relatives, too, can play an important role in supporting working parents by providing alternative care for their young children.

Companies, too, have an important role to play in supporting their employees to manage their work and family responsibilities. The proportion of firms providing ad hoc flexible work arrangements rose from 70% in 2015 to over three-quarters at 77% in 2016. These firms employ 82% of all employees, and this is up from 76% in 2015. This is an encouraging development and we want to encourage employers to continue on that trend.

Employers who wish to implement flexible work arrangements can tap on various resources, such as the WorkPro Work-Life Grant. The tripartite partners also published the Tripartite Advisory on Flexible Work Arrangements to help employers, supervisors and employees implement flexible work arrangements. We want to see this continue to grow. We urge parents to tap on these flexible work arrangements and enhanced leave provisions to better manage their work and parenthood responsibilities in caring for their children.

Mdm Speaker: Mr Ang Hin Kee.

Mr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio): I thank the Minister for his elaborate answer. I have one clarification which is, in many of the other services industry, you have services such as home care services whereby physiotherapists go to people's home to provide care. Will ECDA be exploring the option of having a list of potential nannies or care-givers who can be deployed to homes in the event that the parents have exhausted their leave or are unable to take leave to be at home with their child? Because many a times, because of work reason or other reasons, they have already exhausted what available resource they have, and having such external resource may be the only other means for them to care for the children when they contracted HFMD.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Mdm Speaker, generally, MOH's advice is for such children to remain at home during the time that the centre is closed and this is to ensure that they do not transmit HFMD to other children whom they come into contact with.

Apart from taking leave and arranging for flexible work to care for the children, we do encourage parents to explore grandparents, relatives, friends, domestic helpers, fellow parents to pool together efforts to care for the children. We understand the inconvenience affected parents face should a centre close for 10 days, for example. However, we do seek their understanding that this is a necessary step to break the cycle of transmission of the disease to other children and other families.

But more directly to the Member's question on whether we plan to provide such services, I think that is beyond the remit of ECDA to do so. Right now, as far as we can see, it is an inconvenience but I think parents, by and large, try to manage where they can. We do urge parents to explore the various possibilities. One of the key measures we mentioned is for companies to take a much more expansive approach in terms of their flexible work arrangements, and we are encouraged that that will continue to develop.

We also encourage parents to look at informal arrangements amongst themselves because when a particular childcare centre has some of these closure requirements, the parents could pool efforts among themselves to try to share the responsibilities.

So, there is a range of different possibilities available. But in terms of taking a very specific step for ECDA to provide for such care services, I would suggest that the Member's question is with regard to students affected by HFMD, but there are also other illnesses that children contract from time to time, and parents do sometimes face inconvenience. I do not think it is possible for ECDA to provide that service. I guess if there is a very genuine demand, whether there will be companies or others or private sector sort of solutions that will emerge from that, then, that is something that might occur. As of now, as far as we can see, while there are inconveniences, parents try to manage within that range of possibilities that are available to them.