PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION CLASSES

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PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION CLASSES: 9.

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam asked the Minister for Community Development and Sports (a) what is the ratio of teachers to pupils in pre-school education classes; (b) how many children received financial assistance in 2003; (c) how many children dropped out of pre-school classes in 2003; and (d) what are the support programmes in pre-school classes to help children acquire the minimum literacy and numeracy skills necessary for Primary 1.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Mr Speaker, Sir, pre-school children may attend child care centres licensed by MCDS or kindergarten programmes registered with MOE. The ratio of teachers to children in child care centres would depend on the age-group of the children. This ranges from having one teacher caring for five children for those below 18 months, and one teacher caring for a maximum of 25 children for those above four years of age.

For kindergartens registered with MOE, the recommended teacher-pupil ratios are one teacher to 20 K1 children and one teacher to 25 K2 children.

The Government recognises the importance of pre-school programmes in preparing children for primary school and that lower income families need additional financial assistance so that their children can benefit from such programmes.

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Children from needy families are eligible for subsidies through the Centre-Based Financial Assistance Scheme for Child Care (CFAC). This scheme enables young children from low-income families to benefit from quality developmental programmes at child care centres. It provides a subsidy on top of the existing Government Childcare Subsidy for Working Mothers. Under the CFAC, there is also a one-off assistance of up to $1,000 for low-income families to meet the upfront costs of placing their children in a child care programme. As of 30th September 2003, there were about 2,200 children assisted under the CFAC.

For those who prefer to send their children to kindergartens, the Government has also recently introduced the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) to help low-income families pay for the cost of kindergarten education. The subsidies are targeted at children who are attending kindergartens that have upgraded their programmes to qualify for the Ministry of Education's recurrent grant. KiFAS aims to assist low-income parents offset any fee increases which may arise when better-quality kindergarten programmes are implemented. Application for the 2004 kindergarten intake has commenced in October 2003 and about 3,500 applications have been received so far.

The Member also asked about the number of children who dropped out of pre-school in 2003. Children leave their pre-school centres for various reasons. A child who leaves one centre may subsequently be enrolled in another pre-school centre. Both MOE and MCDS do not have data on children who "drop out" of pre-school as requested by the Member. However, for child care centres, centre supervisors will refer cases of children who may have to leave child care due to financial reasons to the CDCs for financial support so that they can remain

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in child care or be referred to Family Service Centres for other social services.

Sir, the Minister for Education will address part (d) of the Member's question on support programmes in pre-schools to help children acquire the minimum literacy and numeracy skills necessary for Primary 1.

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam: Sir, does the Minister think that it is time to have a national registry of children who are eligible for pre-school to track them? Because, now with compulsory education, it becomes more important that our pre-school children get their minimum numeracy and literacy skills. That is one question.

Another question is that I was disturbed by some recent news story as well as what I understand from social workers that in a classroom with a ratio of 1:25, there have been instances where childcare teachers have wrung their hands and asked the parents to take the child out. How can we prevent such things from happening? Is it perhaps timely to review this ratio?

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, it is not compulsory for every child to attend pre-school classes. Therefore, there is no need for us to have a national registry. But I agree with the Member that we should encourage parents to send their children to childcare centres or kindergarten programmes. In fact, the take-up rate is quite high. For all the childcare centres over the last four years, the enrolment rate had been up to about 75%. So, there is already an understanding by parents that childcare centres and kindergarten programmes are necessary for the child's development. On that accord, I do not think it is necessary for us to have a national registry.

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On the same point, self-help groups are also encouraging low-income families with young children to enrol their children in childcare centres and kindergartens where there are assistance programmes for them in terms of offsetting the fee requirement for these families.

As regards the difficulty of some childcare teachers to deal with difficult children, I do not know of any specific cases. But if the Member knows of specific cases, I will be most happy to investigate.

As for the ratio, we have looked at this very carefully, and these are based on some studies that have been done. It is left to the childcare centre to work with the specified ratio. As I have mentioned in my reply, it is a maximum of 1 teacher to 25 children. There are some childcare centres which cater to 25, some even less. I agree with the Member that we should find the best way possible to integrate every child into the childcare centre. We have done so, especially with disabled children. This year we announced that some childcare centres are taking in kids who are disabled. Beyond that, I think the childcare centres will have to find their own way to deal with some of the difficult children. But if there are specific cases that the Member would like to raise with me, I will be most happy to look into them.

Mdm Cynthia Phua (Aljunied): Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether he can consider additional financial assistance for children who are slightly handicapped and also have learning difficulty, especially those who are mildly dyslexic and autistic children.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I do not have the exact figures now, but earlier this year we have extended some of the schemes to children with mild difficulties in learning. But I will be most

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happy to supply the information to the Member.