Review of Minimum Staff-to-child Ratios for Infant Care and Preschool Class Level

Mr Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) in what year were the current minimum staff-to-child ratios for infant care and each preschool class level last formally reviewed; (b) what was the scope of that review; and (c) whether that review considered the adequacy of ratios for supporting children with developmental needs in inclusive classroom settings.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: When the Early Childhood Development Centres Act was enacted in 2017, minimum requirements for staff-to-child ratio for preschools were reviewed to ensure the safety and well-being of children. The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) took reference from international jurisdictions and engaged the sector to ensure that preschools' manpower and staffing considerations adequately catered for the developmental needs of children at different ages.

While the legislated ratios ensure that minimum safety standards are upheld, preschools have the operational flexibility to respond to varied needs and demands. In practice, they can and do operate with more than the minimum staff requirement, in accordance with their programming objectives and manpower.

In particular, to ensure that the ratios are adequate for supporting children with developmental needs in inclusive classroom settings, preschools must seek ECDA's approval if they wish to enrol children with developmental needs beyond 15% of the preschool's capacity for such children to ensure sufficient resources to support all children. Preschools can also deploy more staff to support classes with children with developmental needs or receive support from Early Intervention (EI) professionals.