COS 2024: Early childhood education

FY2024 MSF COS — “EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION” BY MELVIN YONG (RADIN MAS SMC) ON 6 MAR 2024

1. Chairman, I am happy to learn that children enrolled in government-supported preschools will enjoy lower fees from 2025. Lower-income families with non-working mothers will also receive higher preschool subsidies, on par with subsidies enjoyed by working mothers.

2. MSF has done much to improve accessibility of preschools. In this term of Government, monthly fees for anchor operators would have come down significantly from $800 in 2019 to $640 in 2025, before GST. This is a welcome move for young couples, who are often financially sandwiched, as they care for their children and elderly parents.

3. One segment that I am particularly concerned about are children from lower-income households. According to MSF, the 2021 preschool participation rate of Singaporean children aged 3 to 4 years residing in public rental flats was about 80%, lower than the national average of about 88%. Can MSF update whether we have narrowed this gap? Beyond financial subsidies, what are MSF’s plans to work with the community and social service agencies to support lower-income families in enrolling their children in preschool?

4. The demands on our early childhood educators continue to be challenging. Can MSF provide an update on the number of preschool teachers recruited in the past three years? Have we seen an increase, or has attrition outpaced recruitment? How does MSF intend to improve the working conditions of early childhood educators, step up recruitment and training of new educators, and reduce attrition? A quality early childhood sector must be underpinned by quality educators.