SINGAPORE - Establishing a clear poverty line, making pre-school education compulsory and introducing unemployment support were among the proposals made by MPs in Parliament on Monday. They spoke at the start of a five-day debate on the President’s Address. Madam Halimah Yacob’s speech on April 10 emphasised the need to strengthen social safety nets, among other key priorities for the...
Sembawang MP Vikram Nair suggested making pre-school attendance compulsory to ensure no child falls behind.SINGAPORE - Establishing a clear poverty line, making pre-school education compulsory and introducing unemployment support were among the proposals made by MPs in Parliament on Monday.
Noting that it is important to ensure that all children attend pre-school, Mr Vikram suggested that pre-school education be made compulsory, or to have strong measures to encourage universal attendance.In the past, children would attend school and learn things such as the alphabet. Today, with most children attending pre-school, the entry benchmark has risen, he added.
All thresholds for government assistance, in particular, financial assistance scheme ComCare, should be pegged to this poverty line or higher, he said. The local qualifying salary should also be tied to this line. This support can be linked to training and job search help, in order to preserve the work ethos of the workforce.
He also noted that while training and reskilling are an important feature of the nation’s work ethos, it may be demoralising for workers to continually do so but be unable to secure employment, in particular, for older workers whose runways are much shorter.
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