Registration for the two Government-run kindergartens housed in Punggol View Primary School and Dazhong Primary School opened on Monday afternoon.

At Punggol View, the first parent turned up at 12.45 pm for registration, 15 minutes before the stipulated time. By 2.30 pm, about 30 Punggol residents had submitted their application for the kindergarten.

Over at Dazhong Primary, the school opened its doors at 12.45 pm. Ms Nor Haidah, 32, was one of the first to register her four-year-old daughter who is currently enrolled at a PCF kindergarten. "I have another daughter who is in Primary one at Dazhong, so I hope to transfer my younger one over so that it'd be easier to send both of them to school," said the administrative worker.

Both kindergartens have 120 places each and parents have till April 12 to register their children. Registration for the three other kindergartens at Blangah Rise Primary, Farrer Park Primary, and a void deck in Tampines Street 45 will begin on April 15. The Government has said that it is setting up its own kindergartens in order to develop the best approaches and new materials, and share them with other pre-schools to spur improvements all round.