PRESCHOOL GUIDELINES

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan asked the Minister for Transport if he will (a) explain the rationale and basis for charging the licensing fee of $25 per month per taxi on taxi operators for monitoring the performance of taxis; (b) explain how the quantum of $25 is arrived at; (c) ensure that this additional cost will not be passed to commuters; and (d) state how the Land Transport Authority plans to monitor the performance of taxis.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: The objective of the Taxi Operator Licence regime is to improve the level of taxi service. Under this regime, taxi operators will be made more accountable for the quality of their taxi services, as they will need to meet a set of Quality of Service standards.

The Taxi Operator Licence regime will require LTA, as the regulator, to closely monitor the performance of taxi operators and their compliance with the Quality of Service standards. LTA will also investigate and enforce against errant taxi drivers under the new Vocational Licence Points System. As these are new activities, additional budget and manpower resources will be required. The licence fee will enable LTA to fund these activities relating to regulating and improving the taxi industry.

LTA expects to analyse and audit fairly often the performance records of the taxi companies for compliance with the Quality of Service standards in the initial 1-2 years. It has estimated that it needs an annual budget of $5.3 million, which includes the salary cost for 28 staff. The main cost items are:

To develop and operate a new centralised computer system to administer the Taxi Operator Licence regime and the records of some 85,000 taxi drivers.

To enforce the Quality of Service standards by analysing the radiophone booking systems of the taxi operators and commissioning external audits of the operators' radiophone booking systems and their operations.

To conduct investigations and enforcement against errant taxi drivers.

To monitor taxi services by conducting taxi surveys and auditing indicators submitted by the taxi operators.

As there are about 19,000 taxis in Singapore, this works out to a licence fee of $25 per taxi per month. This is less than 1% of the gross turnover of the operators. (This is minuscule and comparable to licence fees paid by operators in other regulated industries, e.g. telecommunications sector). It amounts to less than 3 cents per taxi trip, against an average fare of around $7. As you can see, the licence fee is not excessive.

As LTA will need to set up the audit and enforcement framework, the work will be more intensive in the first couple of years. As the $25 licence fee is based on the budget for this more intensive phase of the regulatory work, LTA will review the quantum of the licence fee after two years, taking into account the actual costs incurred.

I share Dr Amy Khor's concern that taxi companies should not pass on this cost to commuters. We have liberalised the taxi industry to allow new entrants into the market. Obviously, taxi companies will have to take into consideration the new competitive landscape before considering passing on this cost through any rental adjustment or fare increase.

Mr Gan Kim Yong asked the Minister for Education how many of the preschools here have complied with the guidelines announced recently by his Ministry and what measures are being taken to monitor the progress of the preschools in complying with these guidelines.

RAdm Teo Chee Hean: The Ministry of Education has announced various guidelines and measures to improve the quality of pre-school education in Singapore. The first of these measures concern teacher training in the pre-school sector. In December 2000, MOE announced that all kindergarten principals would be required to obtain the Diploma in Pre-school Education (Leadership) by 2006. In October 2001, MOE further announced that one in four teachers will be required to obtain the Diploma in Pre-school Education (Teaching), and all other teachers to have Certificates in Pre-school Teaching by 2008.

There has been good progress made in the number of teachers going for training among all the major kindergarten providers. MOE has an open channel of communication with all kindergarten providers and is keeping track of developments.

The second initiative undertaken by MOE to uplift the quality of pre-school education has been the development of a framework for kindergarten curriculum, based on a set of desired outcomes for pre-school education. The curriculum framework was launched in January this year. The framework is available to all kindergartens, which are encouraged to use it as a guide to design their own programmes that meet the needs of children physically, emotionally, socially and cognitively.

MOE does not intend to make the pre-school curriculum framework a formal requirement for all kindergartens. This is consistent with the Government's approach of having the provision of pre-school education remain in the hands of the private and community sectors. Such an approach encourages innovation as each kindergarten operator strives to meet the needs of its pupils.

Finally, MOE is currently reviewing the legislation necessary for regulation of pre-school education. A Kindergarten Education Bill will be introduced in Parliament within a few months.