Beyond Social Services to close Bukit Merah pre-school by end-2025 due to falling enrolment

SINGAPORE – A pre-school centre serving children from lower-income families that is run by Beyond Social Services (BSS) will close by the end of 2025 after more than 20 years of operation.

The Healthy Start Child Development Centre (HSCDC) in Bukit Merah was the pre-school that four-year-old Megan Khung, who was abused to death by her mother and the woman’s boyfriend,

attended before her death in 2020.

Teachers and social workers had tried to help Megan after discovering bruises on the girl in school.

BSS said the pre-school will wind down due to declining enrolment.

Megan’s mother Foo Li Ping was

sentenced to 19 years’ jail on April 3,

while her boyfriend Wong Shi Xiang was sentenced to 30 years’ jail and 17 strokes of the cane.

On Oct 23,

an independent review panel

found a series of breaches by agencies in the handling of Megan’s case, including a Child Protective Service officer failing to log calls from the girl’s pre-school seeking help, and police officers not following procedures.

BSS said enrolment at HSCDC had fallen from more than 50 children in 2018 to just 14 in 2024. Referrals have decreased as families relocated due to housing redevelopment, the organisation said.

HSCDC opened in 2002, when a community survey in the Henderson and Bukit Merah estates found that many children were at risk due to inadequate childcare, parental incarceration or leaving school early.

BSS said on Oct 14 that more affordable and accessible pre-schools have become available in Bukit Merah and beyond, reducing the need for a specialised centre like HSCDC.

The statement was posted on BSS’ website on Oct 22.

Despite better accessibility of pre-schools, other challenges like irregular pre-school attendance still persist, BSS said.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) Supporting Lower-Income Households Trends Report 2024 found that while 85 per cent of ComLink+ families had enrolled their children aged three to six in pre-school in 2023, only 26 per cent maintained an attendance rate above 75 per cent.

The

ComLink+ scheme

was launched in 2023 for low-income families with children to get financial incentives and other support if they take steps to better their lives. 

BSS front-line staff observed that families struggle with barriers such as transport issues and irregular work hours, or trouble with balancing financial stress and emotional exhaustion.

These factors often disrupt attendance and impact children’s development, it said.

These challenges are not a reflection of parental neglect, and instead may reflect deeper structural and social issues, BSS added.

The organisation plans to redirect its resources towards community-rooted initiatives that strengthen caregiving capacity and mutual support among families.

“Reinvesting in community-rooted support can help families build predictable routines, strengthen caregiving capacity and nurture children’s readiness for school – complementing, not duplicating, existing pre-school services.”

As HSCDC winds down, BSS added that it will engage parents and caregivers to co-design the next phase of its family support work.

The Straits Times has contacted BSS and MSF for further details, like whether parents will be given help to relocate their children to other pre-schools.