With the increasing percentage of households where both mother and father are working, there is a greater need for student care centres where school going kids can spend time safely and productively. To meet that demand as well as to decrease the number of latch key kids, there are now more student care facilities in primary schools here.
Student care boom in primary schools
These centres provide after-school programmes, such as enrichment activities and homework supervision for the students and according to a TODAY report, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has said that it will be working with more schools to develop more of these centres. Currently, there are a total of 80 such centres amongst the 190 primary schools on the island, surpassing the 70 MOE had projected to have by the end of 2013.
RELATED: New education measures announced in Singapore
Safe and social place for kids
One such centre is Kid’s Nook at Opera Estate Primary School, which started operations in January of this year. Senior Minister of State (Education and Law) Indranee Rajah, who officially opened the centre earlier this week, spoke on the usefulness of such centres which “have helped alleviate the worries of working parents”. She added that not only were student care facilities in primary schools a “safe place” for children, they were also a great place to learn social behaviour. “For some of the kids who have slight learning disabilities or social behavioural problems, being with friends help them to know how to socialise.”
RELATED: Promoting early childhood education in Singapore
Children enjoying after school in a good environment
Reactions
A grateful parent Ms. Monica Perrett, 44, whose daughter is in Primary two attends the student-care centre at Opera Estate Primary, said that having a supervised environment for her child to complete her homework, has allowed her family to spend more time together in the evening. She also added that her child has become more sociable, mixing with other students across levels and classes in the school.
Share with us your thoughts on student care facilities in primary schools here. Do you think that MOE should have more of such centres or are current facilities enough? Here’s a news clip from 2012 talking about the Education Ministry stressing the importance of after school centres: