SINGAPORE - Boasting an arts and craft studio, outdoor painting wall and community herb garden, a new 2,000 sq m childcare centre in Yishun is set to welcome its first intake by the middle of this year.

On Saturday afternoon, more than 200 parents turned up to register their youngsters for the Skool4Kidz Yishun Large Childcare Centre (YLCCC), which is located next to Block 415 along Yishun Avenue 11. The centre, which will have an intake of 300, is one of five large childcare centres that anchor operators are building across the island to meet the needs of younger families in Singapore.

"These are important developments and I'm glad to report they're all on track," said Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin, who officiated the start of the registration. "We'll have four large centres coming online quickly in a few months' time and the response has been healthy."

Three such centres in Jurong West, Sengkang and Punggol launched registrations earlier this month and, so far, parents of close to 1,000 children have expressed interest in registering for the 1,300 places available.

Mr Tan assured parents that these large centres will maintain proper teacher-student ratio so standards are kept, adding that recruitment fairs have had good responses.

And while he does not think that having more children will increase the probability of infection, keeping a hygienic environment will help minimise the possibility.