More parents of pre-school kids can save more on fees

From 2021, more parents can save more on pre-school fees as the fee cap for centres under the government-funded partner operator scheme will be lowered, and more centres may come under the scheme.

The maximum fee that partner operators can charge for full-day childcare services will be set at $760 monthly, $40 lower than the current fee cap of $800.

For full-day infant care services, the amount is set at $1,330 monthly, $70 cheaper than the current $1,400 per month. Both fees are not inclusive of goods and services tax.

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said yesterday that applications are open for pre-schools keen on being partner operators from 2021 to 2025.

Partner operators get government funding to keep fees low, and have to adhere to the fee cap. Current operators include Busy Bees, Star Learners and Carpe Diem. If interested, they have to re-apply for the next term as well.

Other requirements are to invest in improving centre quality and support continual professional development in the early childhood sector, as well as offer at least 300 places.

ECDA said it aims to have more centres come under the partner operator scheme after the current term ends in December next year. It now has 250 centres among 23 partner operators on board. More than 20,000 children are currently attending these pre-schools.

"The eventual number of operators or centres appointed will depend on the quality of operators or centres that apply. We encourage all affordable and quality childcare operators to submit applications to join the scheme," it added.

Besides this scheme, the Government also runs the anchor operator scheme as part of measures to keep pre-school fees affordable.

There are five anchor operators, who receive more funding and follow comparatively lower fee caps of $720, $1,275 and $160 for full-day childcare, full-day infant care and kindergarten, respectively.

The Government said earlier this year that it would be increasing government-supported pre-school places to 80 per cent by 2025, up from 50 per cent now.

It also said that in the medium term, full-day pre-school expenses should be brought down to around $300 a month - about the same as the cost of primary school plus after-school student care before means-tested subsidies.

Ms Chua Shian Luan, director and founder of Nobleland Arts N Learning Place, said it is keen to apply for the partner operator scheme.

It has four centres here with more than 400 children, with fees at three of them at $850 for full-day childcare, and about $1,300 for one of them.

Kinderland Educare Services general manager Seet Lee Kiang also said it is interested in the scheme, though it may not apply for all its 23 centres to be on it. Its fees range from $860 to $1,636 for full-day childcare across its centres.

Software engineer Li Yaxing, 35, whose two children are in Kindergarten 1 and in Nursery 1 at Nobleland, hoped it would join the scheme. "With government funding, the pre-school can also continue the good quality of education for the kids without sacrificing things like the teachers' welfare or career progression. It's a win-win situation for all involved," she said.

Interested operators should e-mail sector_funding@ecda.gov.sg and submit their applications by 5pm on Jan 31 next year.