Mar 5, 2004
Nanny matching is a hit
by Wong Sher Maine
IN JUST three days, a new programme to match babies to nannies has drawn more than 175 couples and 250 nannies across the island.
Most approached the 10 childcare centres offering the service even before the scheme started on Monday.
They had read newspaper reports in January about the Family Day Care Service, started by the Ministry of Community Development and Sports.
Said Ms Nancy Lee-Wong, director of the Jenan Care and Development Centre in Mountbatten Road: 'Parents were calling us soon after they read of the service.
'The response from potential nannies was overwhelming. Our recruitment booth was crowded with women who want to stay at home and earn a living.'
The 10 centres also took out advertisements and went on roadshows to recruit nannies, who must be above 21 and have at least two years' experience taking care of children. They can earn $500 to $625 a month.
The centres receive up to $30,000 a year from the Government to offer the service and they will pay for the nannies' training.
Potential nanny Veronica Poh signed up at the Cherie Hearts Child Development Centre in Upper East Coast Road.
She quit her job as an accountant last month to be a full-time mother to her two daughters, aged three and two months, and the programme allows her to earn some money.
Said Mrs Poh, 32: 'Looking after another child will be like having a playmate for my daughters.'
For the parents who have signed up - some of whom have not even given birth - the plus in hiring these nannies is the convenience of a caregiver who lives near them and has childcare experience.
Said Mrs Anne Masurie, 40, an administrative officer whose first child is five months old, and who will meet the prospective nanny from Cherie Hearts next week: 'I'd like to go back to work and I want to find a caregiver who is professional and will treat my child like her own.'
To find a home-based nanny, visit www.mcds.gov.sg and look under What's New.
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