NTUC offers more places for childcare

Thursday, January 15, 2009
Source: Today

SINGAPORE’S largest childcare operator revealed its part in the Government’s grand plan to boost the national birth rate yesterday, announcing not only a rebranding exercise, but also more centres, higher salaries for teachers, and higher qualifying cap for fees assistance.

NTUC First Campus — formerly known as NTUC Childcare Group — :will set up25 new childcare centres in the next 12 to 18 months, adding 2,500 more places to the current 5,500.

Meanwhile, all of its future heartland centres will offer infant-care services.

And at a time when jobs are a top worry, it has given its teachers an 8.4 per cent pay raise to attract the best. Those with early childhood education diplomas now earn $1,843 on average, up from $1,700.

Promising that fees would remain affordable, chief executive Chan Tee Seng said they would be kept 15 to 20 per cent below the national median of $630 - average fees for its 40 heartland My First Skool childcare centres (formerly known as NTUC Childcare) are about $500 monthly.

Fees are higher for its more exclusive Little Skool-House International brand – the 10 centres located mostly at workplaces and community clubs charge $800 to $900 monthly.

“Many operators increased fees by $70 to $80 sometime in September last year. We have held back because of the economic situation,” said Mr Chan. A five to 10 per cent hike was originally planned by My First Skool this month, but has been postponed, he said.

First Campus – the largest pre-school operator here in terms of enrolment – is not the only one on an expansion path. The Government expects 200 new centres in the next five years, and a PAP Community Foundation spokesperson told TODAY it would open 28 new centres by 2011. Another operator, Learning Vision, opened a branch at Changi Business Park earlier this month.

SUBHEAD: MORE HELP, HIGHER QUALITY

First Campus will do more for needy families. Its Bright Horizons Fund has raised its qualifying income cap from $1,800 to $2,200, and expects to help about 400 families this year.

“At the end of the day, we hope that we can minimise the impact of this downturn not just for workers, but also for families and especially the children,” said NTUC secretary-general Lim Swee Say.

But expansion will not come at the expense of quality, said Mr Lim. First Campus is expanding its training arms - the RTRC Asia and Caterpillar’s Cove, a centre promoting research and best practices.

The Government had announced last year that by 2013, three-quarters of all childcare teachers would need at least a diploma. RTRC Asia – a Continuing Education and Training Centre for childhood education – will ramp up yearly training capacity from 1,400 to 2,000 in the next three years. Fifty diploma and degree scholarships will be awarded by the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports over the next five years.

Those at First Campus who demonstrate leadership potential will also be put on the career fast-track, becoming principals in three years instead of the usual five.

The changes spelled out yesterday will cost First Campus an extra $1.5 million yearly, but this is already part of operating costs and will not be passed on to parents, assured Mr Chan.

Parents like Mrs Elizabeth Chai said these measures, especially better-qualified teachers, would boost confidence in the pre-school provider. “School fees are also a concern and I hope they won’t be raised,” said Mrs Chai, 32, whose three-year-old son is enrolled in a My First Skool playgroup.