Infant Care Capacity Taken Up and Ways to Spread Demand to Available Places
Ministry of Social and Family DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns infant care capacity and strategies to manage demand across different residential areas. Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked about current enrollment levels and how to redistribute demand to areas with available capacity. Minister Masagos Zulkifli B M M stated that 80% of the 12,000 licensed places are filled and that 1,000 more places will be developed in 2022 alongside new HDB estates. He explained that larger preschools are being developed on state land in high-demand areas like Punggol to serve more families. Finally, the Minister encouraged parents to consider preschools near workplaces, grandparents, or adjacent neighbourhoods to better utilize existing capacity.
Transcript
26 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the current infant care capacity taken up by enrolled children; and (b) what more can be done to spread the demand for infant care places in popular areas to other areas with capacity to ensure that such demand for infant care places is met.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: There are over 12,000 infant care places licensed for operation today. Of these, about 9,700, or about 80%, are currently taken up.
The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) will continue to increase preschool capacity, where needed, to meet demand for early childhood services. Over the course of 2022, ECDA will develop 1,000 more infant care places in tandem with upcoming HDB developments to cater to the needs of young families. These 1,000 places will be provided mostly by Anchor Operators and exclude places which may be developed by commercial preschool operators.
In addition, for high-demand areas like Punggol where many young families are concentrated, ECDA facilitates the development of larger preschools in community premises and vacant state land. These larger preschools serve a wider catchment of families in the entire town. While families may have to travel further to these centres, enrolled children will benefit from the amenities these larger preschools offer, such as outdoor learning spaces.
Even as ECDA makes efforts to increase infant care places, we urge parents to broaden their choice of preschools where possible. For example, by considering preschools in adjacent neighbourhoods, near parents' workplaces or in the vicinity of grandparents' homes.