Teachers push back after Gerald Giam suggests extended care at some pre-schools: ‘I only have 2 hours with my own children’

She questioned whether people realise that many preschool teachers are parents themselves. Some younger educators, she added, also attend school or courses after work.

“What about social life?” she asked. “Do they know that some of these people already do not have enough social lives? And now you want to extend their working hours? For what?”

Ermaothman also wondered why the responsibility should fall on the preschool industry, saying it is “bad enough” that educators already spend 10 hours a day caring for other people’s children instead of their own.

“I only have two hours on good days, or less than two hours, with my own children per day,” she said.

She suggested that instead of extending preschool hours, childcare and family care leave provisions for working parents could be increased. She pointed out that a parent with six children receives the same amount of childcare leave as a parent with one child, calling it “ridiculous”.

Speaking to Stomp, Ermaothman also proposed that companies end work by 5.30pm or offer flexible work-from-home arrangements so parents can pick up their children by 7pm.

“While we understand not many families have a village to count on, not many teachers who are parents themselves have a village to count on, too.”

Support parents not at the cost of educators: TikToker

Another TikToker, @sunnysideup_sg, said the preschool industry has been “suffering in silence and slowly eroding away”.

Having seen many passionate teachers leave, she argued that longer hours do not mean better care.

Instead, it means “tired children and even more tired educators”, she said in a video that has garnered more than 39,000 views.

“Supporting parents should not come at the cost of children and the educators,” she added.

Stomp has reached out to sunnysideup_sg for more comments.

‘They are educators, not babysitters’

Netizens have flooded the comments, expressing empathy for the preschool industry and its teachers.

“They are educators, not babysitters,” one wrote. Many others agreed, noting that teachers have families of their own.

Some netizens also suggested reducing overall working hours in Singapore. “When parents have more time, children benefit,” one comment read. In response, sunnysideup_sg said: “I’m sure reducing working hours will cause other issues for other companies too.

Another suggested hiring part-time staff for the late hours, such as between 6pm and 9pm. Any additional costs could be passed on to parents who pick up their children after 7pm, they added.

Some commenters identifying themselves as preschool teachers said educators’ well-being and input “must be prioritised”.

One pointed out that Saturday shifts had already been removed, questioning how extending weekday hours would affect work-life balance.

“I love my job as an infant educarer… but if they are going to execute this plan, I will leave. I will drop everything and leave,” one commenter wrote. “Preschool teachers are someone’s daughter, wife, mum or just… someone with (a) life outside of working hours.”

“That’s why I left the early childhood industry,” another said.

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