21 hours ago
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SINGAPORE: The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has scrapped a proposal to mandate preschool closures on Mondays if the Saturday before that is a public holiday, following objections from parents.
A survey seeking views was rolled out on Apr 1, and ECDA received more than 30,000 responses.
“While almost all preschools are supportive, about two-thirds of parents did not support the proposal due to the impact on their families’ caregiving arrangements,” the agency said in a notice on Friday (Apr 4), informing parents of the decision not to go ahead with the plan.
The notice, seen by CNA, was sent to parents of children attending some anchor and partner operator preschools.
"Given the feedback received, ECDA will not proceed further on this proposal and will instead focus on other efforts to enhance the well-being and working conditions of our early childhood educators."
In the survey, ECDA asked parents how they would be affected by the proposed closure, whether they had alternative caregiving options and if they supported the plan.
The agency said this came after requests from early childhood educators and operators to consider mandating preschool closure on Mondays after Saturday public holidays, in line with the Ministry of Education's practice for its mainstream schools and kindergartens.
"This primarily stems from the challenges that educators face in clearing their off-in-lieu days due to manpower constraints," ECDA said in response to CNA queries.
Aligning preschool closure with mainstream schools would help teachers with school-going children better manage their family responsibilities and improve their work-life balance, the agency said in a statement.
PARENTS CITE CAREGIVING DISRUPTION
Parents who CNA spoke to expressed concerns about how mandated Monday closures would affect their ability to manage childcare, particularly when alternate care options were limited.
Ms Rachel Lee, a full-time accountant, said she would have been less affected as she has a domestic helper, but she sympathised with parents in more precarious caregiving situations.
Her 22-month-old son goes to playgroup at a preschool every day. Ms Lee takes him there two to three days a week, and if she is unavailable, her domestic helper takes him to school.
“If we did not have family support, we did not have a helper ... things could be very tough for us, because we still need to work,” said Ms Lee.
In preschool, children fall sick often and for long periods of time, said the 35-year-old. Most working parents already use much of their childcare leave when children are away from school due to illnesses and would struggle with additional disruptions if preschools were to close on Mondays, she added.
Mr Tan Jian Rong, who has three children aged three, seven and 13, echoed similar concerns.
His youngest daughter is in Nursery 1, while his older children previously attended infant care and playgroup.
Most parents would prefer to save their leave days for more important events, the 39-year-old added.
“For employees, parents who have planned meetings that cannot be changed on Monday, and in the event that their jobs do not have covering … due to the nature of the job, then that would be extremely impactful,” said Mr Tan.
Not all parents opposed the idea. Ms Felicia Ang, who has two children in infant care and nursery, said she supported the proposal.
Both Ms Ang and her husband work full-time, and the family has no domestic helper. But as the couple can rely on extended family for support, they would be able to handle preschool closures.
If the ECDA had implemented it, she or her husband would make caregiving arrangements with their parents – similar to when their children fall sick.
“It’s fine for them (teachers) to have a break as well, because they really work long hours and it’s not an easy job,” Ms Ang said.
Many preschool teachers are passionate but leave the industry because their jobs are too taxing on them and their families, she added.
