The horrific attacks at a preschool in Thailand shocked the world, including Singapore. In view of this tragedy, my Sengkang GRC colleague He Ting Ru and I asked Parliamentary questions today on what security measures preschools in Singapore are required to put in place to safeguard our children:
*9. Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether there are any standard training, support or security measures in place for staff of preschools or childcare service providers regulated by the Early Childhood Development Agency to handle unexpected security incidents; and (b) if so, whether any further updates will be made to these measures.
*10. Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what physical security measures are preschools and childcare centres required to put in place to detect and prevent intrusions by unauthorised persons; (b) whether the Ministry regularly checks that these measures are being implemented across all centres; and (c) whether these measures are sufficient to prevent persons with criminal intent from entering the centres and harming staff and children.
I asked these Supplementary Questions following the reply from Minister of State (Social and Family Development) Sun Xueling:
Mr Speaker, can I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the victims in the tragic shootings in Thailand, which involved children in a childcare centre.
In Singapore, during preschool dismissal times, it is common for a large number of caregivers to be fetching their children at the same time. It is difficult for teachers to identify each and every caregiver, and are likely to use their own subjective judgement to decide whether to open the door to the centre and release the child to the caregivers.
Can I ask the MOS: Are all preschools required by regulation to have their doors locked at all times and unlocked only for authorised persons whose identity is authenticated by the centre staff and are they required to maintain a list of pre-designated caregivers who are allowed to fetch children?
If not, could ECDA (Early Childhood Development Agency) assess if these enhanced security measures are necessary to ensure the safety of young children?
