1,000 new child care places in Sengkang and Punggol by mid-2016

SINGAPORE - Parents in Sengkang and Punggol can look forward to 1,000 new child care places by next year, when construction of two new large child care centres is completed.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) announced that both centres will have a capacity of 500 places each, and will open for registration in Jan next year.

The Sengkang centre will be run by NTUC First Campus' My First Skool, while the centre in Punggol will be operated by E-Bridge Pre-school.

The centre in Sengkang will also house an Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) centre, which will serve up to 300 special needs children by providing them with therapy services three times a week.

The centres, which are expected to be completed in mid-2016, are part of the government's efforts to meet the growing demand for quality and affordable child care in these young estates, ECDA said in their statement.

At the ground-breaking ceremony for the Sengkang centre on Tuesday, Minister for Social and Family Development Mr Tan Chuan-Jin said: "We understand the needs of parents with young children in these estates. We are working hard with local grassroots advisers and other government agencies to meet these needs."

He added that similar centres in Jurong West, Woodlands and Yishun would also be built soon. According to ECDA, these new centres will have a capacity of 300 each.

seanyap@sph.com.sg