EFFORTS to reach out to needy families have helped to reduce the number of children entering Primary 1 without any pre-school education from over 4 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

These measures include volunteers from grassroots organisation visiting families with five-year old children who are not going to pre-school, giving them places in PAP Community Foundation (PCF) kindergardens and financial assistance.

The Ministry of Education has also been working with primary schools to identify six-year-old children who are not attending pre-school during the Primary One registration exercise.

But Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said despite the improvements, efforts should be stepped up to help the families concerned as they usually face multiple probles, often beyond the need for financial help.

In his written reply to a Parliamentary question from Jurong GRC MP Halimah Yacob on Monday, Dr Ng said there are many financial assistance schemes and community-based support in place to help children from lower-income families.