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COS 2012 Debates: MOE – Support for preschool industry

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by NCMP Yee Jenn Jong


I state my interest as a service provider to preschool operators. However I do not run kindergartens which are beneficiaries of my proposals.

MOE has earmarked $290 million to be spent on preschools over five years from last year. The objectives are to raise the quality, accessibility and affordability of pre-school education.

The intent is good. This investment should spread evenly to all participants in the industry so that overall quality can increase while keeping school fees affordable.

MOE has scholarship programmes for eligible kindergartens ranging from diploma to Masters. Besides the PAP Community Foundation, how have scholarship places have been used by other kindergartens? MCYS has scholarships available to all child care centres, including private ones. Will MOE extend its scholarship programmes to private operators too? We can attract good educators into the industry through pre-service scholarships. MOE can work out pre-service scholarships that allows scholarship holders to work for any MOE-registered kindergartens for a minimum period after graduation.

When designing industry engagement programmes, I hope MOE can be inclusive of all operators. For example, KiFAS is a good scheme to support low income families. However, after 8 years of implementation, only PCF has qualified as eligible operator. I will speak on this during COS on MCYS.

Singapore has 500 kindergartens. I like MOE to also consider fee subsidy for all kindergartens, like how MCYS subsidises half-day child care for all licensed centres.

By providing better industry-wide support, we can generate a more vibrant preschool scene with more choices, better quality and continued affordable fees for parents.


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