Childcare Centres' Utilisation of Annual Closure Days for Each of Past Five Years

10 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Social and Family Development for each year in the past five years, what percentage of childcare centres utilise (i) the full six days of annual closure (ii) five days of annual closure and (iii) fewer than five days of annual closure respectively.

Mr Desmond Lee: Childcare centres are allowed to close for up to a maximum of six days each year to carry out organisational activities, such as curriculum planning and staff training. This also includes one day off for early childhood educators on Teachers' Day. Preschool operators take the opportunity to bring their staff together for skills upgrading on a range of topics, such as teaching methods and child management, updates on operational procedures for the safety and well-being of children, as well as team bonding activities.

In setting the guidelines on closure days for childcare centres, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) strives to balance parents' childcare needs and the operational needs of childcare centres. Centres are required to inform parents about closure days at the beginning of each calendar year, and remind parents one month prior to each closure day. This enables parents to make alternative care arrangements for their children.

From information provided by centres, the majority of centres utilise the full six days of closure annually. In 2018, 77% of centres who reported their closure days to ECDA¹ had utilised the full six days of annual closure. 94% of centres that reported to ECDA utilised five or more days of annual closure.