SINGAPORE — Instead of awarding childcare sites in HDB estates to the highest bidder, childcare operators will now be assessed on quality and affordability factors as well.

Making the announcement today (June 13), Acting Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing said that tendered price will now only constitute 50 per cent of the overall score.

The new tender evaluation process will come into effect tomorrow with the opening of tenders for two sites located at Teban Gardens Road and Punggol Field.

The Government will also be looking at criteria including the childcare operator’s track record, affordability of childcare fees, quality of programmes and community assistance efforts. This means that operators will be evaluated based on their investments in staff training and initiatives such as offering assistance to the less advantaged in the community.

Likewise, the Government will look at whether the operator’s proposed childcare fees are affordable “relative to median fees” for private operators in HDB premises. The median fees for commercial childcare centres in heartland areas are currently S$750 per month.

With these changes, Mr Chan hopes that quality of the childcare sector will improve over time. In terms of school fees, he said: “We hope to see the (fees) staying around the median or below the median, so as to expand the number of mass market options providing childcare services in housing estates.”

He added: “If we do not have a quality criteria in the evaluation, we may run the danger of price may becoming the only signal ... What we want to see in Singapore, are programmes that are not just price competitive but quality ingredients in it that are age appropriate for our children.”

The move is a joint effort by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and HDB to provide good quality and affordable childcare centres in HDB estates.

The ECDA was set up in April to integrate the Government’s approach towards early childhood care and education in Singapore.

One of the agency’s priorities was to develop a list of “quality factors” to be considered in the tendering of commercial childcare centre sites.

The first two sites to come under the new process are located at Teban Gardens Road and Punggol Field, with tenders opening tomorrow. Commercial operators interested in developing and operate child care centres at these sites may visit www.hdb.gov.sg, www.ecda.gov.sg or www.childcarelink.gov.sg for more information on the tenders.