The grant, available to some non-profit childcare operators, is expected to reach about $30 million a year in its fifth year and is part of the Government's effort to enhance the quality, accessibility and affordability of centre-based childcare.

The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) said the grant will allow operators to attract, recruit and retain better-qualified childcare teachers. It can also be used by operators to provide scholarships to their teachers, reduce class sizes and provide learning-support programmes for children who need more assistance.

These efforts to enhance the childcare sector are part of the enhanced 2008 Marriage and Parenthood Package announced by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng in August last year.

As part of the package, MCYS will help to develop 200 new childcare centres over the next five years.

This will increase the number of childcare facilities to nearly 1,000 centres islandwide.

Last August, the subsidy for working mothers who place their children in childcare centres was increased from a maximum of $150 to $300 a month per child, while the subsidy for centre- based infant care rose from a maximum of $400 to $600 a month per child.

Operators who qualify for the new grant must be non-profit, secular, of a sufficient size, and possess a good track record.

NTUC First Campus, which has a chain of more than 40 centres, said it is keen to apply for the grant.

Chief executive of NTUC First Campus Chan Tee Seng said the grant will be a 'welcome boost for the early childhood education industry as it gears up for rising demand and expectations from parents'.

Read the full report in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.