By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid, Channel NewsAsia, 10 Jun 2013
Better quality and more affordable childcare services could come as early as next year, said the Ministry of Social and Family Development. The new initiatives are set to be announced later in June. Plans are also underway to build a childcare centre within each cluster of new flats, where possible.
Acting Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing revealed this in an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia.
There are currently about 1,000 childcare centres across Singapore, and the government has said it plans to build 200 more by 2018 -- all to give parents the peace of mind that their little ones will be well taken care of while they are off at work.
However, it is not just about having more childcare centres. Parents want them accessible as well -- near their workplaces and within walking distance from their homes.
Currently, demand for childcare places exceeds supply, especially in newer towns.
Mr Chan said: "When it comes to accessibility, it's really about having the childcare centres at the correct place and this usually means near the parents' house or near the workplace, which is why we are encouraging the workplace owners to actually start up new childcare centres.
"At the same time, we want to design the new HDB estates to have an in-built childcare centre within each of the precinct. So that has to do with accessibility because that minimises the logistics challenge and at the same time, the transport requirements for the parents."
Besides accessibility, parents also want childcare services to be of good quality, and at a cost that is affordable -- something especially important for the lower and middle-income families in Singapore -- so that their children will not miss the chance to get a head-start in life.To address parents' concerns, the government is unveiling a slew of initiatives in the coming weeks.
To keep childcare fees low, the Anchor Operator Scheme will be extended to more operators and tender details will be released end-June. Currently there are two anchor operators -- the PCF (PAP Community Foundation) and the National Trades Union Congress' My First Skool -- which receive government grants and charge fees below the industry median.
With more anchor operators offering more childcare places at affordable fees, the increased competition is expected to help raise quality and drive down the costs.
The median monthly fee for the industry stands at S$775 for a full-day child care programme. For the anchor operators, it is S$615.
Families with a household income of S$2,500 or less can pay a monthly fee of just S$3. That is because children attending centres by the anchor operators receive government subsidies, which have been further enhanced since April 2013.
Mr Chan added: "On the supply side, we want to make sure that the cost is kept low through our direct subsidies at the back-end through the operators, while they maintain affordable fees.
"On the other hand, we give tiered subsidies to the parents -- to those who have less, we give more -- so that we all achieve the aim that if you need to send your child to a childcare centre, it should not take up more than 10 per cent of household income and that will make us comfortably within the top end of the OECD countries' averages."
On calls for the government to nationalise the sector to standardise childcare services, Mr Chan said that may not benefit young children.
He said: "If you nationalise the childcare sector, then you will lose the desired diversity that we have in the sector... I think from the research done in other countries, the younger they are, the more diverse their learning style and learning habits, so it is very difficult to have a one-size-fits-all (solution).
"But as you grow older, then it is probably easier to have a national syllabus and I think that's the approach that we have taken so far."
The tender process however, will change to improve the quality of childcare.
Currently, sites are tendered out to the highest bidder. However, the ministry will soon reveal "quality factors" which operators must meet. The factors may include affordability of fees and programmes being offered.