Forum: Train low-income mothers to work in childcare centres
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Demand for manpower in the childcare sector is increasing.
I believe there is great potential for low-income mothers, a largely untapped human resource in Singapore, to fill this demand.
Mothers from low-income households often face this issue when looking for work: They need help to take care of their children before they can start working, but they also need to work a certain number of hours for maximum financial support.
The lack of coordination with employers for flexible working arrangements makes this difficult.
The fixed opening hours of childcare centres would provide low-income mothers with the stability of predictable working schedules and reliable income.
Training them as childcare workers would strengthen the sector, because it would ease the workload of current educators and thus reduce the attrition rate.
Teachers have many job responsibilities.
On top of planning the curriculum and teaching, they also have to do administrative work and care for the children.
Mothers from low-income backgrounds could be trained to help educators cope better.
Vanesse Tang Jia Yi
