Governance of Student Care Centres and Minimising Disruptions in Event of Abrupt Centre Closures

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Shawn Loh, Jalan Besar GRC

Questions

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Government currently audits the financial viability and operational sustainability of Student Care Centre (SCC) operators; (b) if so, how are such audits conducted; and (c) whether the Government intends to improve its governance processes over SCCs to avoid future abrupt closures, to reduce the risk of disruptions to children, parents, and staff.

To ask the Minister for Education in relation to the interim plan for the Ministry’s schools and teachers to continue student care centre operations following the abrupt closure of private student care centre operator in February 2026, how does the Government plan to recognise these extra efforts and ensure that the Ministry’s teachers are not further overworked.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Hamid Razak, West Coast-Jurong West GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what regulatory safeguards are in place to ensure continuity of student care centres when they cease operations abruptly; (b) whether there are framework level requirements on financial governance, contingency planning and parent fee protection; and (c) how the Ministry assesses operator resilience to minimise disruption to students, parents and staff.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Shawn Loh, Jalan Besar GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in relation to the abrupt closure of Little Professors student care centres, how the Government plans to assist in the recovery of salary payments due to staff and the recovery of GIRO payments unfairly deducted from parents.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim, Sengkang GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in respect of the closure of Little Professors Learning student care centres (a) whether affected schools have relied on existing staff and teachers to support student care services; and (b) if so, whether the Ministry will consider engaging camp vendors or other experienced providers instead, to avoid overburdening teachers.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Joan Pereira, Tanjong Pagar GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in respect of the assistance provided to parents whose children attended the student care centres operated by Little Professors Learning Centre (a) whether the additional GIRO deductions had been refunded; and (b) whether more longer-term arrangements have been made for the after-school care and KCare operations.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Yip Hon Weng, Yio Chu Kang

Question

To ask the Minister for Education given that school-based student care centres (SCCs) are under the Ministry's oversight, (a) whether the Ministry will consider implementing a standardised system to directly collect parent evaluation and complaint data on SCCs instead of relying largely on operator-managed feedback; and (b) if not, why not.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim, Sengkang GRC

Questions

To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development whether the Ministry plans to review the vetting process for vendors providing student and kindergarten care services in primary schools and MOE Kindergartens, including financial safeguards and monitoring mechanisms, to ensure that systematic weaknesses that enabled sudden operational disruptions by such vendors do not recur.

To ask the Minister for Social and Family Development whether the Ministry has plans to assist affected households in recovering student and kindergarten care fees paid in advance, following the sudden closure of Little Professors Learning Centre.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Ang Wei Neng, West Coast-Jurong West GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) how many student care centres ceased operations in the last three years; (b) how does the Ministry assist students and parents affected by the closure; and (c) how will the Ministry facilitate the refund of deposits and advance payments to the parents in the event of such closure.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Wan Rizal, Jalan Besar GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in light of the recent termination of a student care centre operator affecting multiple primary schools, whether the Ministry will review and strengthen its governance and oversight framework for outsourced student care services, including safeguards to better protect students, parents and employees from similar disruptions in future.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Charlene Chen, Tampines GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in light of the recent closure of a private student care operator (a) what financial viability safeguards are required of student care centre operators; (b) whether the Ministry monitors early indicators of financial distress; and (c) whether additional prudential measures, such as fee collection safeguards or contingency planning, will be considered to better protect children, parents and staff.

Combined Response

1. Mr Speaker, my response will address oral question Nos 3 to 6 on today's Order Paper.

2. My response will also cover related oral and written questions filed for subsequent sittings on the recent issues with Little Professors Learning Centre Pte. Ltd. (LPLC), a former operator of Student Care Centres (SCCs) and Kindergarten Care (KCare) centres in our schools..

Continued Provision of Care

3. MOE was first alerted to the issues at LPLC centres in February this year. Our first priority was to minimise the disruption to students and their families, and to ensure that students enrolled in the LPLC-operated SCCs and KCare centres continued to receive care after school.

4. Our schools have stepped in to provide interim after-school support. School staff have been deployed on a rotational basis to bridge the gap since the incident first happened. Over the past three weeks, schools have engaged relief manpower, including retired school staff, flexi-adjunct teachers, and external instructors, to fill the staffing needs and to reduce the need for continued deployment of school staff. Parent support groups in some schools have also stepped in to provide additional support. MOE HQ officers have been providing on-site assistance and have helped to relieve the administrative load on schools.

5. All affected schools have been able to continue providing after-school care for students. I would like to express my deep gratitude to all who have stepped in to help. I know that the children and their families are also appreciative of the care and concern. School staff who have put in additional contributions during this interim period will be recognised.

6. MOE has started sourcing for new SCC and KCare operators to provide after-school care for the students in the affected schools. We want the new operators to start as soon as possible.

Support for Affected LPLC Staff

7. MOE is also concerned about former LPLC staff who have been adversely affected. We are working with NTUC and the Education Services Union (ESU), who are supporting affected workers with short-term financial relief, job referrals, and career guidance through NTUC's e2i. MOE and schools have also been able to employ and pay former LPLC staff in their original centres if they are keen to do so, until a permanent operator is appointed. This will provide some financial stability for these affected staff in the interim, while they continue to care for our students.

8. Affected LPLC staff have also been advised to reach out directly to the Ministry of Manpower, the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management or the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board to file claims for unpaid salaries and CPF contributions.

Fraudulent Deductions

9. With reference to the unauthorised GIRO deductions, MOE has filed a police report when these were reported to schools in February. We had at that point also advised affected parents to cancel their GIRO arrangements immediately and to consider filing a claim with the Small Claims Tribunal. As police investigations are ongoing, I am not able to comment further on this issue. Pending the outcomes of police investigations, we will work with relevant agencies to see how we can further support parents.

Selection and Monitoring Systems

10. Members have asked about our selection and monitoring mechanisms for SCC and KCare operators.

11. As part of the selection process, operators have to demonstrate adequate financial standing before they are considered. After they are appointed, MOE and schools maintain oversight over operators and monitor their performance in terms of how well they are providing the SCC and KCare services. These monitoring processes are reviewed regularly so that we can continue to improve our safeguards.

12. We also value parents' direct feedback about our SCC and KCare centres so that issues can be addressed in a timely fashion. Today, parents can provide feedback to SCC and KCare staff, to the school, and directly to MOE. In 2025, MOE directly received a total of 212 emails and phone calls providing feedback on SCCs and KCare centres. We reviewed all of them and followed up with the schools and operators when needed.

13. Before this incident with LPLC, MOE has not had cause to terminate the services of any school-based SCC and KCare operator.

14. Nevertheless, we recognise that there is room for improvement within the sector to provide better services, to strengthen the resilience of operators and to better monitor the service provision. We are further reviewing our processes for selecting and monitoring SCC and KCare operators.