Singapore Government Press Release
Media Relations Division, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts,
MITA Building, 140 Hill Street, 2nd Storey, Singapore 179369
Tel: 6837-9666
SPEECH BY MR YEO CHEOW TONG
MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT
AND MP FOR HONG KAH GRC
AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE
IYAD-PERDAUS CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE AT
BLK 418 CHOA CHU KANG AVENUE 4
SATURDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2002, 11.00 AM
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is my pleasure to join you today for the official opening of the IYAD-Perdaus Child Development Centre in Choa Chu Kang. This is the third child care centre to be opened by Perdaus, with the other two centres being in Jurong East and Jalan Singa in Bedok.
When child care centres were started in the 1970s, they were not popular. Many families then, as well as now, believed that home care remains the best form of care for the young. The Government shares this belief. However, we cannot escape the reality that Singapore has a small labour pool, and we need to tap on both our men and women to provide the talent to keep our economy on track. Child care centres are thus borne by a pragmatic need to help Singapore women return to the workforce after having children.
Therefore, the Government has to ensure that child care centres are widely available in each and every housing estate, that the services are affordable and that there are acceptable standards of care. Today, more than twenty years later, there are now 626 child care centres spread throughout Singapore offering more than 50 thousand child care places. About 75% of our children aged 18 months to 6 years are currently enrolled in child care centres. I am indeed glad that this Government initiative has taken off so well.
The assistance to families extends to the subsidies that are given to both working and non-working mothers and single fathers who place their children in either full- or half-day child care. At present, the subsidies are $150 for full-day care and $75 for half-day care. For low-income families, there is a Centre Based Financial Assistance scheme for Child Care (CFAC), which provides assistance of up to $250 per month per child over and above child care subsidy. The Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS) recently announced that women who work part-time and place their children in child care for at least 12 hours a week will also be entitled to subsidies of $50 to $150 per month. There will also be subsidies for non-working mothers. I hope that more families will take advantage of these additional grants to enable their young children to benefit from a centre-based learning programme.
The Government’s child care programme could not have taken off without the valuable support of non-profit organisations who have come forward to offer to run the centres. Perdaus is one such example. Perdaus (Pelajar-Pelajar Agama Dewasa Singapura or Association of Adults Religious Class Students of Singapore), since it was formed in 1964, has been organising ongoing training for Muslim adults in areas such as Islamic studies, Arabic language and Islamic teaching methodology. It also runs part-time madrasah classes. I am glad that it has, in recent years, also started to run child care centres which benefit not just the Muslim population, but other races as well.
The three IYAD-Perdaus Child Development Centres now have a total enrolment of about 150 children of all races. Indeed, by accepting children of all races into your programmes, Perdaus helps promote greater racial understanding by enabling our young children of different races to mingle and understand each other’s cultural traditions from a young and tender age. I am told that there are Chinese classes conducted for all students. There is also a good mix of teachers from all ethnic groups. I commend Perdaus for your good work.
It is my hope that very soon, Perdaus will take up the challenge to open more child care centres to help the Government to further expand the network of child care centres in Singapore. With that, it is now my pleasure to declare the IYAD-Perdaus Child Development Centre open. Thank you.