To : Mrs Valerie Ong - Ministry of Social and Family Development

MCYS MEDIA RELEASE NO: 35/2005DATE OF ISSUE: 30/12/2005JOINT MEDIA RELEASENEW PROMOTION DRIVE TO ENCOURAGE PROVISIONOF TAMIL LANGUAGE IN CHILD CARE CENTRESThe Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) incollaboration with the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) havelaunched a new but important initiative to promote the provision of Tamil Language(TL) in child care centres. MCYS and SINDA are confident that by providing Indianparents with more language choices, the enrolment of Indian children in child carecentres will increase.Current Situation2 Currently, about 5% of the 49,000 children attending child care centres areIndians but only 14 of the 709 (about 2%) child care centres provide TL as a secondlanguage. Under this promotion drive, we had aimed to train at least 30 TL teachersand increase the number of centres providing TL programme to 28 centres (i.e. 100%increase). The increase in the number of centres providing TL would provide Indianparents with more choices to enrol their children in child care centres.Another 18 Centres to offer TL in 20063 With this pilot project by MCYS and SINDA to train preschool teachers in theteaching of TL language and the planning of age-appropriate programmes for preschoolers,another 18 child care centres will offer TL as a second language from Jan2006. This will bring the total number of centres offering TL as a second language to32 centres − exceeding our initial target of 28. With more centres offering TL, parentswill have more choices in selecting a child care centre for their children. This will alsoboost the enrolment of Indian children in child care centres.4 Mr S. Vivakanandan, Chief Executive Officer of SINDA, said, “SINDA believesvery strongly in giving children a strong foundation in education, especially in preschooleducation. Child care centres are key in providing children a conducive learningenvironment and giving them a head-start. One of the barriers preventing more Indianparents from enrolling their children into child care centres is the shortage of TLteachers. With this initiative, we are sure that more Indian parents will send theirchildren to child care centres.”Background5 In May 2005, MCYS conducted an online survey with child care centres todetermine the number of Indian teachers and children whose mother tongue is Tamil.MCYS received responses from 390 centres (55.3%). Out of the 404 teachers who

esponded, 289 (72%) were able to speak and write Tamil. 139 (34%) indicatedinterest in undergoing TL training for teaching in child care centres. A sizeableproportion of Tamil-speaking parents (523 out of 780, i.e. 67%) wanted their children tolearn Tamil as a second language in child care centres.6 Over the subsequent months, MCYS, in collaboration with SINDA, conducted 3training sessions for a total of 92 child care and kindergarten teachers as well as someTL teachers recruited by SINDA. Teachers attended the 30-hour TL teacher-trainingcourse and were taught to plan age-appropriate programme for pre-schoolers. This isin line with the Ministry of Education’s curriculum framework for mother tongue whichemphasises oral speaking rather than writing. Most teachers who completed thecourse were enthusiastic and confident on their ability to teach TL in their centres.Today’s batch of 41 graduands is the third and final cohort of teachers that havecompleted the training programme.Provision of TL Teachers7 Centres which do not have TL teachers and would like to provide TL classes fortheir children can tap on the pool of TL teachers recruited by SINDA. This list will beposted in MCYS’ Child Care Link website (www.childcarelink.gov.sg). The list ofcentres providing TL will be posted in Child Care Link website as well as SINDA’swebsite for the reference of child care practitioners, parents and the public.Financial Assistance / Bursary Scheme8 SINDA has pre-school bursaries for children from low-income families. This is tohelp them build a strong foundation before entering Primary 1. SINDA’s pre-schoolbursary complements the subsidies provided by MCYS and CFAC. In 2004, 281children benefited from SINDA’s pre-school bursary. This year, some 350 childrenreceived the pre-school bursary.Issued by:Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports andSingapore Indian Development Association30 December 2005

CHILD CARE CENTRES CURRENTLY PROVIDING TAMIL LANGUAGEPROGRAMMEAnnex ANo Name of Centre Address Tel No.1 Kidsville Child Care Development Blk 201 Yishun St 21,67556557Centre Pte Ltd (Blk 201)#01-55 S(760201)2 Kidsville Child Care DevelopmentCentre Pte Ltd (Blk 217)3 Kidszone Child care andDevelopment Centre4 Ang Mo Kio Social Service Childand Development CentreBlk 217 Yishun St 21,#01-333 S(760217)Blk 480 Sembawang Drive,#01-455 S(750480)Blk 229 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3#01-1272 S(560229)6753955667532422645956725 Child at Street 11 Blk 102 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3#01-1429 S(560102)645536816 Montessori @ Graceland Pte Ltd Blk 7 Phoenix Walk S(668111) 676201177 MBA Angels Pte Ltd Blk 19 Toh Tuck DriveS(596883)646392408 Jollytots Preschool 1 Tamarind Road S(806011) 648162529 Joyland Childcare and DevelopmentCentreBlk 936 Jurong West St. 91#01-361 S(640936)6791569710 Perform @ Junior 558A Sembawang RoadS(758419)6755362611 Wonder Kids Childcare andDevelopment Centre (Bedok)Blk 317 Bedok RoadS(469483)6445090212 Sam’s Early Learning Centre Blk 17 Jalan MutiaraS(249196)13 Learning Vision @ Work (TTSH) Blk 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng,4 th level, Tan Tock SengHospitalS(308433)14 Jamiyah Child Care Centre Blk 124 Ang Mo Kio Ave 6#01-4055 S(560124)673610376354334664574458

Annex BCHILD CARE CENTRES PROVIDING TAMIL LANGUAGE PROGRAMME FROMJAN 2006No Name of Centre Name of Centre Tel No.1 Bumble Bee Child Care Blk 369 Woodlands Ave 163630234#01-853 S(730369)2 Bright Child Educare Centre Blk 128 Marsiling Rise#01-256 S(730128)636309163 Presbyterian Community Services(Ang Mo Kio)Blk 442 Ang Mo Kio St 43#01-1205 S(560442)645707144 Just Kids Learning Place Pte Ltd Blk 159 Bukit Batok St. 11#01-180 S(650159)656901595 Red Schoolhouse 104 Pemimpin Place S(576101) 635332006 SGM Murni Child DevelopmentCentreBlk 411 Tampines St. 41#01-241 S(520411)626018947 Ascension Kindercare Blk 105 Potong Pasir Ave 1#01-436 S(350105)628184348 Modern Montessori PreschoolCentre (Westcoast)9 Modern Montessori Child Care andDevelopment Centre (Kovan)12 West Coast Walk, #01-05 WestCoast Recreation CentreS(127157)9 Yio Chu Kang Road #02-17-25Kovan Centre S(545523)677441466289813310 Chrysalis Child Care Centre 23 Jalan Teliti S(537319) 6858016811 BG Child Care Pte Ltd 399 Yung Sheng Road #01-48,Taman Jurong Shopping Centre,S(610399)6264433712 Kids’ Star Child DevelopmentCentre (S) Pte LtdBlk 565 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3,#01-3431 S(560565)6452023113 Brightsun Child Care Centre Blk 635 Jurong West St 65, #01-334 S(640635)6861874514 Praiseland Childcare and LearningCentreBlk 662 Yishun Ave 4 #01-235S(760662)6852292215 PCF Twinkle Tots Yuhua Child Care Blk 264 Jurong East St 24, #01-523 S(600264)65632427

No Name of Centre Name of Centre Tel No.16 The Children’s Discovery Centre Blk 184C Rivervale Crescent#01-199 S(540184)6852292217 Chummy Child Care Centre 27/27A Hougang Ave 1 S(538875) 6282363018 Learning Vision @ Work 5 Ang Mo Kio St 62 #04-04 NCSHub, Block C S(569141)64811708