Singapore - Maids who need to care for infants or seniors can get help to do so with a new programme launched on Tuesday (July 25).

Nurses teach the courses covering eldercare or basic infantcare, each lasting three days, offered by the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (Fast). The eldercare programme will run from Aug 20 while the infantcare course is already available.

The non-profit organisation also offers a course on maternal-cum-childcare, which is held over 10 Sundays.

Employment agencies can either send the maids on the courses directly, or offer them to prospective employers to choose from.

The cost of the programmes, run by external vendors trained in the respective sectors, ranges from $90 to $200 for Fast members and from $180 to $480 for non-members.

Fast also runs other courses for maids, including a two-day Onboarding and Integration Programme, which teaches maids how to adapt to life in Singapore, and is aimed at supplementing the settling-in programme offered by the Ministry of Manpower.

It also runs a clubhouse where maids who are members can join a support group and engage in leisure activities.

The new programmes are being offered amid a recent debate over the job scope of maids, some of whom are expected to care for elderly or young charges, sometimes without any training.