Budget 2023 > Latest > Commentary
SG Made for Families – Childcare Places
I am glad we are increasing the number of childcare places but we also need to consider the timing.
Let me share an example. At Yishun Glen, a new Build-To-Order (BTO) estate in Nee Soon East, most of the blocks have been completed and keys have been issued many months ago. But the childcare centre in the estate is still not completed. ECDA has not even announced the anchor operator who will run the centre. Even if the centre is completed tomorrow, it will take months more for the operator to take over and renovate the centre.
Many of the estimated 179 children younger than seven living in Yishun Glen will need the childcare centre. Surrounding childcare centres are also quite full, so, parents are stuck.
In the future, can ECDA appoint the childcare centre operator much earlier and work with HDB to have the main contractor of the BTO project build and renovate the childcare centre for the operator? All these efforts will help save valuable time and resources and will mean that the childcare centre can be ready when residents move into their new homes.
Watch the speech here.