Lower fees at more pre-schools from next year

More parents with young children will pay less for their children's pre-school education from next year, with more centres joining a government-funded scheme to lower fees for families.

A total of 324 childcare centres, run by 29 operators or consortia, have been appointed to a new round of the partner operator scheme, which starts in January next year.

Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli announced yesterday that the number of centres in this second term of the scheme is 30 per cent more than those in the current term.

More than 27,000 Singaporean children are expected to benefit from next year, compared with 20,000 in the current term.

The expansion of the partner operator scheme comes after the Government said last year that it would be increasing the proportion of government-supported pre-school places to 80 per cent by 2025, up from 50 per cent last year.

A total of 23 partner operators running 250 centres were appointed under the first term, which began in 2016 and will come to an end next month.

Pre-schools are also allowed to apply as a consortium, so operators of different pre-schools under the same franchise, for instance, can come together to apply.

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.

For centres under the second term, 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.

In a press statement yesterday, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said the operators comprise a mix of commercial and not-for-profit types, with centres in locations across Singapore, providing choice for parents.

Seven operators, such as Greenland Childcare and Kinderland, are new to the scheme. Both have seven and 14 centres, respectively, that will be part of the new term.

Other additions include faith-based operators such as Catholic Preschool Education (Singapore), with three centres, and Little Seeds, with 11 centres.

Little Seeds Preschool is the childcare arm of St James' Preschool Services (Anglican).

Its centres, most of which charge $790 or more for full-day childcare, will become more affordable with the fee caps.

Mr Andrew Tay, chief executive of St James' Preschool Services (Anglican), said: "Over the next few years, we will continue to invest in our staff, focusing on training and developing career road maps for them. We believe that this enhanced professional development of staff will have a positive impact on our children's learning."

Ms Rabiatul Adawiyah, chief development officer of Busy Bees, an existing partner operator which has been renewed for the second term, said two more centres are now part of the scheme, bringing the total to 18.

This means that by the middle of next year, about 2,600 children will benefit from the lower fees at these centres, up from the current 2,100.

She added that the government support will go towards investing in the professional development of teachers, for instance, in earning a relevant degree qualification. The funding will also help in improving curriculum resources and offering more programmes for children with developmental needs.

ECDA had evaluated the applications of 52 pre-school operators to be part of the scheme.

During a visit to Busy Bees' Learning Vision @ Interlocal pre-school in Pasir Panjang yesterday, Mr Masagos said the factors in choosing partner operators were quality, followed by accessibility and affordability.

"The existing operators also have to show that they have been delivering on quality, and that includes training teachers, uplifting their qualifications," he said.

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

Overall, the Government's annual spending on the early childhood sector is expected to more than double over the next few years, from around $1 billion in 2018.