Amend the ECDC Bill

Parents should be given choices on the type of preschools n not have to have govt telling what they can cannot. Policies should apply to all across the board with no exemptions. Govt centres n anchor ops should not do what they want without inspections.

Quality cannot be improved if license is given for a 36 months period. Preschools standards & requirements may decrease during these long periods and affect children's development if not monitored.

I hope that the government will truly listen to the people, for these policies will affect them the most. By making it difficult for private preschools to survive/thrive and putting "government" preschools above the law, it is akin to taking away the rights of the people - the right for educators to choose the school they want to work at, and the right for parents to choose the school they think is best for their child... If the government deems it unfair that not all parents will be able to afford their "ideal" childcare, then perhaps they should stop taking shortcuts such as the implementation of bills such as this one, and talk to non-anchor operators about how they can make school fees more affordable/accessible to the general public without making it a struggle for private preschools to survive. Things like heavily subsided rent, for example, means that anchor operators are of course more able to provide more affordable rates. Making the provision of preschool education a competition among operators was a decision initially made by the government (because keeping things competitive will naturally make them strive to be better, right?) so please level the playing field and not show such favoritism towards certain operators. Besides, improving the quality of the EC sector in Singapore will take more than just this bill; so many other things are lacking, such as the impracticality of SPARKS (yet operators apply for it because it's "government approval") and the lack of EC-experienced officers. It wouldn't fly if a civil servant with no background in engineering is given a checklist and asked to check the safety of an aircraft before takeoff, so why is it acceptable for someone without EC background to check the quality of preschools? There are so many things to fix before a bill as big as this one should be allowed to pass, especially without being edited to be less biased first.

Thanks for the initiative.

Looking forward to some good changes to lift up the industry for sustainability and building capability

We need more help and co-operation from the Ministry but not another Bill

Do we really want our future generation to be "robots"?

Before you simply come up with something and implement, especially when it's related to young children, think of those who will be affected by you. What happens if you or your kid is one of them? What would you prefer? Be treated as abnormal? It's better not to come out with anything than to implement nonsense!

Will the thousands of rules and regulations imposed by MOE really improving quality of the educators and providers? Or instead will it be a massacre of genuine hearts of the educators and the potential out-of-the-box preschools that are currently blooming and budding beautifully in our garden of early childhood education? I am afraid it is the latter... welcome to the era of monotonous in early childhood education!

Parents is the ultimate stakeholder of our children's future (what they become, we get the immediate consequence). At the minimum, as a mum, I expect to have enough choices to meet my child's individual needs. (To me this is my basic right as Singaporean, in a developed, democratic country) For young children's development, education is beyond classroom teaching & many requires individualized attention. That's where the private professionals may help in area unreachable by MOE or PCF.

Whilst new regulations will deter unethical operators, teachers from the industry, parts of it penalizes teachers/centers who endevour to cater to the children under their care. It's a people-centric industry and a one-size-fits-all rules and regulations will only be harmful in the long run.

Prejudice kills..

We need to be fair to smaller players who are creative and innovative in many more ways than large centres which are not nimble and flexible. My 3 kids have gone through such a beautiful nurture by Wee Care and my number 4 is having a great learning time now. Many other kids will be happier if unrealistic yard sticks are not used to measure these smaller centres.

AMend the bill.. Solve the problems on the ground first

Fully support this petition. It is time for the Singapore Education System to wake up to the realities of a global world. Pisa is not everything. Applicable know how and skills are in today's and tomorrows environment. Academics for academia buts skilled, innovative and creative people for the real world out there.

Please let the educators do their jobs, and not bog them down with administratively with unnecessary new requirements. What is the intent of the new law? Don't lose sight of that, nor suppress the best educators inadvertently.

We reserved our rights as parents to choose what is best for our kids!

Parents should not be deprived power and real choices in deciding which preschool their children go to.

I have benefited from s small and unique pre-school which accommodated the needs of my special needs child and whose small classes, curriculum, teaching methods (no one-size fits all mentality here!), genuine love and warmth helped my child to blossom, enter and adjust successfully in a mainstream primary school. That would not have been possible in the so-called cheaper and prolific kindergartens around my neighborhood. This Bill limits parents' choices, dampens creativity by creating a one- or two-sizes fits all mentality and will have a negative impact in the long run on the good of our children.

Let's teach our children well and let them lead the way.