More pre-school aid for kids from needy families

More children from lower-income backgrounds will have access to financial and social help, with pre-school even made free for some of them, as Singapore's second-largest pre-school operator boosts support for disadvantaged families.

NTUC First Campus will be raising the gross monthly household income ceiling for its child support schemes from $3,500 to $4,500 from January next year.

This will help more than 10,000 children from less well-off families over the next five years. They will also enjoy priority admission into My First Skool centres.

Announcing this at a My First Skool centre in Boon Lay yesterday, NTUC First Campus chief executive Chan Tee Seng said that next year, the operator will spend about $8.6 million to meet the financial, social or developmental needs of children, up by 26 per cent from this year.

"Our goal is to help every child start with (the) best possible footing," he said.

In addition, OCBC Bank will be giving $1 million to help make pre-school free for about 500 children each year from 2020 to 2024. This applies to the children of union members with gross monthly household incomes of $4,500 or less who start at My First Skool next year.

Under this scheme, each child will receive a one-time payout of $400 into his Child Development Account, and this will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Government.

The total amount of $800 can cover the first two years of childcare fees for families earning $4,500 or less, which add up to $720 after government subsidies.

For families whose household income is $3,000 and below, any excess funds can be used for other education and healthcare expenses.

OCBC will also be organising regular financial literacy workshops for parents from next year. The partnership between the bank and the pre-school operator was signed yesterday by OCBC group chief executive Samuel Tsien and Mr Chan.

The initiative comes after news that about 330 centres, or one-fifth of childcare centres in Singapore, will be charging higher fees next year, with the median increase being "within 5 per cent of fees".

When asked about this, NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng, who was present at yesterday's event, said: "There are always adjustments of fees according to what is needed in the market. But the Government, recognising that this is an important concern of parents - we're stepping in to help with the overall cost of education.

"So as a whole, by next year, we will see that the fees for pre-schools will come down with government subsidies."

His comments come a day after Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said at a separate event on Sunday that the increase in childcare fees next year does not exceed the recently announced subsidies.

Encouraging more companies to step up to support the pre-school sector, Mr Ng said the increased financial help will go a long way towards helping less advantaged children learn both inside and outside of classrooms, for instance, through literacy programmes and field trip excursions. These are part of the Government's efforts to strengthen the pre-school sector so that children have access to affordable and quality education in the first six years of life, he added.

Madam Thaneswary Sangra Narayanan, 34, whose daughter just turned three and is attending a My First Skool centre in Boon Lay, said more financial support will be a relief for her family.

She works as a patient service associate at a hospital and her husband is training to be a bus driver. Their gross monthly household income is less than $2,500 and she is five months pregnant.

Monthly pre-school fees for their daughter cost about $70, but with the government subsidies, this will be lowered to $3.40 next year. And with OCBC stepping in, they will not need to pay for their daughter's pre-school education.

"Then I can have more personal savings for other expenses like education, travel and the upcoming baby. We plan to send our daughter for dance classes in future," she said.