DEMAND FOR STUDENT CARE PLACES

DEMAND FOR STUDENT CARE PLACES

**

(Subsidy): **

17.

Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) how many student care places are there in Singapore; (b) in view of the increasing demand for such services, what is the Ministry's plans to grow this sector to support working women with young school-going children; and (c) whether the Ministry will increase the subsidy for parents using such services.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Student Care Centres provide before- and after-school care for children aged 7 to 14 years. Today, there are 152 such centres run by Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs), providing about 13,000 places, with 9,100 children enrolled in them. Besides these, some childcare centres also provide student care services. There are also privately run student care centres, of which about 199 are registered with MCYS.

Enrolment in VWO-run student care centres has held steady in recent years. We recognise that some working parents require student care services to help them care for their children outside school hours. In 2008, the Government announced that it would facilitate the building of 25 new school-based student care centres in existing schools over the next five years. Eight of these centres have been set up, bringing the number of schools-based centres to 36 today. Last year, the Ministry of Education accepted the recommendation by the Primary Education Review and Implementation (PERI) Committee to provide for student care centres in the design of all new generation primary schools. Overtime, most new schools would have space provisions for student care centres. We encourage VWOs to partner schools to run services that cater to the needs of their students, in particular those from dysfunctional families.

Unlike child care for younger children, student care is relatively affordable, with average fees at about $240 a month. To help students from lower income households, MCYS provides a Student Care Financial Assistance Scheme (SCFA) for families with household incomes of up to $2,500. The subsidies are on a sliding scale and could range between $60 to $180 per child. About 5,300 children currently benefit from the SCFA.

We have no plans to introduce more subsidies beyond the SCFA, as student care fees are generally affordable. The SCFA ensures that subsidies are targeted at children who would benefit more from student care services.

Column: 299