SINGAPORE, Dec 8 — Singapore’s Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) will introduce Chinese dialect courses such as in Hokkien and Cantonese next year for migrant domestic workers, Minister of State for Education and Manpower, Gan Siow Huang, announced on Sunday, local media reported, according to Xinhua.

This initiative aims to help domestic workers communicate more effectively with their employers, Gan said in her speech at an event marking the incoming International Migrants Day.

In addition to language courses, the CDE, a non-governmental organisation established by the National Trades Union Congress, will partner with the Healthcare Academy to offer advanced caregiving training, including courses in dementia care and infant care.

According to Singapore’s latest population census published in 2021, 8.7 per cent of residents aged five and older spoke Chinese dialects most frequently at home. When broken down by age, 21.9 per cent of residents aged 55 and above used Chinese dialects as their primary language at home, with 33 per cent of this group not speaking a second language.

"The introduction of dialect lessons ... will foster trust and long-lasting relationships,” Gan said in her address.

The CDE will also support migrant workers by providing free counselling services and mental health workshops in partnership with Silver Ribbon (Singapore), a non-profit organisation focused on combatting mental health stigma and promoting early intervention. Employers will also have access to free workshops to help them better support their domestic workers.

As of June 2024, there were over 294,900 migrant domestic workers in Singapore, making up 19 per cent of the city-state’s total foreign workforce, according to the Ministry of Manpower. — Bernama-Xinhua