When Elisah Tan returned to work after maternity leave back in 2020, she struggled to find a suitable infant care centre for her daughter.

The 45-year-old consultant told AsiaOne that when she tried to enroll her daughter, aged four months then, in infant care centres which were walking distance from her home, she was either rejected or put on waitlist, forcing her to settle for a centre further away.

When asked about the Early Childhood Development Agency’s (ECDA) upcoming childminding pilot to be launched this December, Tan said that as a working parent, she understands how challenging it is to find reliable, affordable childcare.

“This initiative could be a real game-changer for families needing short-term or part-time care solutions,” she said.

“If a childminding service had been available back [when my daughter was born], it would have been a great temporary solution until a spot opened up at a closer infant care centre.”

This initiative will see ECDA-appointed operators engaging and training childminders to provide childminding services for infants, usually during working hours.

This service is for kids aged between two months and 18 months.

Parents will be billed in five-hour blocks and can expect to pay around $700 per month should they utilise these childminding services for 10 hours a day, five days a week.

Each childminder will be allowed to care for up to three infants at any one time, at childminders’ homes or common spaces such as community centres.

Concerns for infants’ wellbeing

While sharing her thoughts on the upcoming pilot, Tan also raised safety concerns parents might have with regards to it.

The one to three ratio between childminder and infants might not be ideal if the infants are incredibly young and need constant attention, she said.

Tan added: “I’m also concerned about the other occupants in the childminder’s home and what happens if the childminder falls sick— who will look after the babies in that case?”

Tan’s sentiments were echoed by Li Guolin, who has a two-year-old daughter.

Speaking to AsiaOne, the 38-year-old civil servant said that the ratio of one childminder to three infants might become overwhelming.

“If one baby needs to drink milk, another needs to poo… I’m not sure how the [childminder] would manage that,” he explained.

Li also expressed concerns about not being able to install cameras to ensure the infants’ safety, though he understood it was for privacy reasons.

The father of one, who mentioned that he was dissuaded from switching from an infant care centre to nanny services for his daughter due to the high costs, said that this pilot could be a more affordable alternative for parents.

“If we have our second [child] during the pilot…I would consider this initiative as a backup plan in the event that my wife or I need to go back to work before we find an infant care centre,” he added.

‘Ample checks will be conducted’: Sun Xueling

The ECDA childminding pilot was first announced in March by Minister of State for the Ministry of Social and Family Development Sun Xueling.

The pilot is a step in making childminding services an affordable, safe and reliable caregiving option for parents of infants and will run for three years upon being launched in December this year, said ECDA in a statement on Friday (Oct 4).

During ECDA’s third and final engagement session with parents and parents-to-be on Friday, Sun spoke to the media about the upcoming pilot and addressed parents’ safety concerns.

She assured that if the provision of childminding services will be held in the childminder’s home, ample background checks will be conducted not only on childminders, but any residents of or frequent visitors to their homes.

Sun also said that CCTVs will be installed in community spaces where childminding services will be provided to ensure the infants’ safety. It will not be mandatory for childminders to install cameras in their homes, however, due to privacy reasons.

Additionally, Sun recognised that there are two potential situations of mistreatment during the provision of childminding: serious offenses related to child abuse and instances where service requirements are not met.

Speaking about cases of abuse, she said: “Of course, these [situations] have to be reported to the police so that [they] can conduct investigations, and we have laws under the Child and Young Persons Protection Act to ensure that children are protected.”

In cases of services falling short of parents’ expectations, Sun encourages parents to communicate with the operator or bring the matter up to ECDA to assess.

“ECDA will have to consider the seriousness of the issue and [whether] there is a need, in the worst-case scenario, to strike the operator off from its list,” she aded.

According to ECDA, the final list of approved operators for the pilot will be released in November, and further details on how parents can sign up will be provided closer to the pilot’s launch.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com

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