Waiting Time for Childcare Centre Places

5 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the current range of waiting time for enrolment in childcare centres; (b) whether there is a shortage of childcare teachers currently and, if so, what is the Ministry doing to increase the number of childcare teachers; and (c) whether a comprehensive study has been done on the needs of childcare centres and how their capacity can be maximised.

The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Tan Chuan-Jin): Mdm Speaker, since 2012, the number of childcare places has increased significantly by over 40% across Singapore to over 130,000. Many childcare centres now have available vacancies to enrol children at short notice. However, for few housing estates with high childcare demand, parents may still experience waiting times that range from a few weeks to a few months. In particular, parents may have to wait longer if they prefer a specific centre due to its location, operator or other reasons. A fair proportion of the children in the queues for the more popular centres are already enrolled in some other centres.

To further reduce waiting times, we will continue to inject more childcare capacity in housing estates with high demand. This includes the four recently announced large centres in Punggol, Sengkang and Bukit Panjang. Future HDB Build-To-Order (BTO) housing developments have also been planned with larger childcare centres to meet the needs of our young families.

Over the past few years, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has been working closely with operators and training agencies on various initiatives to attract, retain and also develop our educators. For example, the polytechnics have increased student intake for early childhood diploma courses by more than 70% last year, from 380 to 675 places. Last October, ECDA launched a comprehensive Early Childhood Manpower Plan to provide more professional development opportunities for early childhood educators, a more supportive working environment and greater respect and recognition for educators.

To understand and address ground challenges, ECDA conducts very regular consultations with the sector, including townhall sessions, surveys and centre visits. For example, the Early Childhood Manpower Plan was developed in consultation with key sector partners, such as unions, industry associations and operators. ECDA will continue to work closely and collaboratively with the sector.

Mdm Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, I have four supplementary questions. The reason I raise this question is because almost every other week, I receive feedback from residents requesting for help.

My first question is: are there any plans to review the salary of teachers? It seems that from the operators, they told me there is a shortage of teachers. And when I talk to the teachers, they said there is a disparity in the salary between childcare teachers and the school teachers, although they are both degree holders.

Second, would there be any more new mega childcare centres in Yishun, because the one that we have, I understand, is fully subscribed?

Third, will the Ministry work with HDB to have bigger childcare centres for new BTOs, because in every new BTO, the childcare capacity is only about 100, which is insufficient?

The last question is, will the Ministry work with HDB to have the childcare centre in a new BTO to be in operation when they hand over the keys, because there is always a delay? After a few months, then the childcare centre is in operation.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Mdm Speaker, I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. Perhaps, let me just give a perspective about waiting time for children to be enrolled in childcare centres. We do acknowledge that in certain estates, there is high demand and a bit of mismatch, but perhaps just let me give context as well. For example, in hotspot areas, such as Punggol and Sengkang, it ranges from a few weeks to a few months.

There are a range of factors that affect waiting time. For example, centre vacancy, demand in estates and parents' preferences for particular centres also matter a great deal, or manpower requirements. We have about 13,800 children currently registered on the wait list, requesting for a childcare place by February 2017. About 40% of them are currently enrolled in a childcare centre but whose parents indicated preference for another centre. And then, the rest are first-timers. But for first-timers themselves as well, some may also be queuing ahead of time and not necessarily having an immediate childcare need.

This is just to provide context. When we say that there is a waiting list, there are a range of reasons as well. But specifically, we do know that in high-demand areas, there are certain concerns.

One of the areas that the Member had raised is with regard to salary. Salary is one factor in terms of attracting people into the sector. ECDA regularly undertakes manpower surveys to help operators better understand the wage levels and human resource practices across the sector. The findings are shared, so that we can encourage operators to keep up with human resource practices and to make sure that they remain competitive.

We understand that salaries have shifted upwards, led by the Anchor Operators (AOPs). That is something that we are working on with the AOPs. But it is uneven across the sector. Salaries for entry-level diploma trained teachers are also comparable to other sectors and competitive. We do recognise that salaries do play an important part and we should endeavour to see how best to raise that where possible.

It is not just salaries alone. Beyond salaries, there are also a range of initiatives to recognise and develop the teachers. For example, the Skills Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education spells out the career pathways, specific skills and competencies required for various job roles and, therefore, encouraging competency-based career development for educators. Also, the Professional Development Programme and the ECDA Fellows Scheme select competent preschool teachers and exemplary leaders respectively to contribute to the centres or sector and recognise their work through awards and allowances.

There are a range of measures that we are putting in place through the Manpower Plan to try to level up and make sure that the sector is attractive, so that we can draw more people into the sector.

In terms of some of the other questions, whether there are more mega centres, we are building five large childcare centres in Jurong West, Punggol, Sengkang, Woodlands and Yishun. This was announced last year at the Committee of Supply 2015. This is to provide accessible, affordable and quality childcare services. They will add about 1,900 new places. Each centre can take 300 to 500 children. Four large childcare centres in Punggol, Yishun, Sengkang and Woodlands have started operations. The remaining centre in Jurong West will commence operations in the first quarter of 2017. We are adding four more new large childcare centres announced last month as part of our overall efforts to meet the needs of young families. They will be in Punggol, Sengkang and Bukit Panjang, and they will add about 2,700 new places in these estates and are expected to open by the end of 2018.

We continue to work very closely with stakeholders, as I mentioned earlier, to review the demand and provide the spaces where possible. Going forward, what we are doing is to work very closely with HDB. We will be revisiting the planning norms to make sure that HDB estates, as they emerge, especially with a younger profile, the demand for childcare places can be met by increasing the number of places.

The other question, which is a pertinent one, because I experienced it myself as well, is that when the HDB flats are ready, can the childcare centres be ready at the same time? I recognise that point. That is a very fair consideration. That is also something that we are working closely with HDB on, to try to minimise that gap between when the flats and centres are ready. But as Members also realise, for flats, when they are ready, actually the people are streaming in over a fairly long period of time, perhaps up to six to nine months. We do recognise that we should try to get it ready as far as possible, so that when the families come in, the childcare centres or the kindergartens can be operational as soon as possible.

Mdm Speaker: Mr Ang Hin Kee.

Mr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio): I would just like to clarify, earlier the Minister mentioned that his Ministry is increasing the capacity of training in the polytechnics for early childhood educators. I wonder if the Ministry has a dedicated policy to also expand the capacity in privately-run operations, whether it is the SEED Institute, KLC International Institute and the other institutes that train early childhood educators. Will we be also expanding their capacity, so that the pipeline of teachers coming into the industry will be ensured?

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Mdm Speaker, the manpower situation is something that we are monitoring closely. We do have very direct levers with our institutions of education. With regard to the polytechnics, we are increasing the capacity. With the private institutions, we are discussing with them on the various measures and we will continue to collaborate with them where possible. If we are able to increase the capacity, we will be more than happy to see that happen.

Mdm Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: Mdm Speaker, I think the Minister did not answer my question: is there any new mega childcare centre in Yishun coming up? Because the one that the Minister mentioned, yes, it is in operation and it is over-subscribed, long queue.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Mdm Speaker, as I mentioned, we are reviewing the various demand in the respective areas. Yishun will be one area that we are looking at. It is not just in terms of mega childcare centres but it is also in terms of the range of the other childcare centres that are part of the overall landscape. We do urge the advisors to also support us when we do put forward requirements for use of space for some of these childcare centres to be built. When we are ready, we will be more than happy to let Members know in advance of time.