Cost and Provision of Subsidy for CCTV Installation in Preschools

38 Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry has conducted studies to determine the cost of CCTV installations in preschools; and (b) whether the Ministry can consider subsidy support to assist preschools in the mandatory installation of CCTVs.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Eric Chua) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): Mr Speaker, based on a survey conducted by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) in 2022, more than 60% of preschools had already installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in their premises. These centres had done so voluntarily before ECDA announced last year in 2023 that CCTV would be mandatory by 1 July 2024. In other words, the majority of preschools had already factored in CCTV installation as part of their business cost.

For the remaining preschools that have yet to install CCTVs, operators should similarly build in this requirement into their business cost.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Yeo Wan Ling.

Ms Yeo Wan Ling (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Some childcare operators have given feedback that while there was, indeed, a lead time on the implementation of their CCTV systems, this continues to be an unplanned expenditure outside of their usual budgets. The implementation can be costly for some operators in the tens of thousands of dollars for a single centre. This budget would have been used for other expenses, such as bonuses, training or facility upgrading. As such, smaller operators, in particular, seek for assistance and support, given this unplanned expenditure, even though they have already complied with the requirements.

I would also like to ask the Ministry, while schools are allowed to have their own standard operating procedures for access to the CCTV for investigation, if guidelines and best practices have been communicated across to all preschools, are these guidelines adopted across the board for the protection of students, educators and the school and are parents also brought on as informed stakeholders accordingly?

Mr Eric Chua: Sir, ECDA, as noted by Ms Yeo, has informed all preschools of the mandate in a Town Hall in February last year. ECDA then issued a circular with details of the implementation in August last year, stating that all preschools must implement CCTVs from 1 July this year. This includes details of CCTV camera requirements, locations of where CCTV cameras must be installed, recording and storage of CCTV camera footage as well as usage and access of CCTV footage by parents and authorities. ECDA has provided lead time of over a year before the start of the mandate on 1 July this year.

Additionally, I would like to inform the House that ECDA will also adopt an advisory approach for the first six months of implementation from 1 July this year to 31 December this year and enforcement will take place from 1 January 2025 onwards. This advisory approach was communicated to preschools in August last year.

1.30 pm

Mr Deputy Speaker: Order. End of Question Time. Ministerial Statement. Minister Edwin Tong.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]