Measures to Strengthen Local Care Worker Retention and Career Development in Social Services Alongside Recruitment from Non-traditional Source Countries

Mr Victor Lye asked the Minister for Social and Family Development whether the opening of social service occupations to workers from non-traditional source (NTS) countries will be accompanied by measures to strengthen professionalism, retention and career progression for local care workers.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The Non-Traditional Source Occupation List (NTS-OL) allows businesses to hire higher-quality non-PMET workers from non-traditional source countries for specific roles with insufficient locals to augment the workforce.

While the NTS-OL will be expanded from September 2026 to include Early Childhood (EC) roles, such as infant educators and early years educators, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has been working with Government-supported preschools to grow their local workforce and retain talent in the sector. We regularly review the salaries of EC educators to ensure their salaries are market-competitive and commensurate with their contributions and professional skills. In addition, ECDA has introduced various initiatives to support the professional development and career progression of our EC educators, such as through the Professional Development Programmes and Continuing Professional Development courses. ECDA has also been working actively to enhance educator well-being. Some of our efforts include designating Teachers' Day and Children's Day as preschool holidays from 2024 and removing the requirement for childcare centres to operate on Saturdays from 2025.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development and ECDA will continue to work closely with relevant stakeholders to attract and retain local EC educators in the sector.