Forum Letter Replies
Uplifting Pre-school Education for All
We refer to Ms Yvonne Lee’s letter (“Shouldn’t all preschoolers be eligible for aid?”) and Mr Yee Jenn Jong’s letter (“Include private centres in preschool push”) on 10 March.
The Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) disbursed by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) aims to ensure that children are not deprived of a preschool education because of the family’s financial circumstances. The increase in the eligible monthly household income criterion from $1,800 to $3,500, which takes effect on 1 April 2011, will allow more families to benefit from the KiFAS subsidies.
For kindergartens to be eligible for KiFAS subsidies, they must be registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE), be non-profit, secular, and in a good financial position to provide quality pre-school education. These eligibility criteria serve to ensure that assistance is targeted at kindergartens that serve lower and middle-income households. There are about 240 eligible kindergartens which are well distributed across Singapore.
MCYS and MOE are committed to enhancing the quality, accessibility and affordability of pre-school education. We make available a range of resources which are available to all pre-schools. These include funding to uplift the quality of pre-school educators and the Singapore Pre-school Accreditation Framework, which helps pre-schools appraise and improve their teaching, learning and management practices. MOE also provides resources for curriculum development and opportunities for professional development such as seminars, learning journeys and overseas work attachment programmes to all pre-school teachers.
We thank Ms Lee and Mr Yee for their feedback and will continue to invest in uplifting the pre-school sector.
Director of ComCare and Social Support Division
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
Director, Education Programmes
Ministry of Education
Shouldn’t all preschoolers be eligible for aid? (Ms Yvonne Lee, ST Forum, 10/3, pA37)
I was elated when I read about provisions for the enhancement of the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme, which will grant relief to families whose monthly incomes do not exceed $3,500 (’More financial help for needy students’; Feb 19). But when I checked with the Ministry of Education, I was told only pupils of centres run by the PAP Community Foundation are eligible. Why is this so? Shouldn’t all preschoolers from families who fall within the income limit be eligible for aid—even those enrolled in private centres?
Include private centres in preschool push (Yee Jenn Jong, ST Forum, 10/3, pA37)
I AM curious about how the $290 million investment in the preschool sector, over five years, will be implemented. (‘Preschools: Funds to boost teaching quality’; Tuesday).
Minister of State for Education Masagos Zulkifli said the funding will also go towards keeping fees affordable, and upgrading centres and programmes. Preschools are either privately owned or operated by organisations such as the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and PAP Community Foundation (PCF).
In my 15-year involvement in the industry, I have not known of any government funding for upgrading the facilities of privately owned centres, so I cannot see how this can lower the cost of preschool education in such centres.
There is also no reason for the Government to fund the upgrading of centres run by NTUC and PCF as they have their own fund sources and are usually already paying rent that is below market rates.
As for upgrading programmes, I hope efforts to boost the curriculum and resources will be extended to private centres to alleviate their costs.
When I visited Western Australia to study its system of preschool education support, I discovered that the centres could borrow toys, puppets, educational games, drama costumes and other resources they needed for teaching and learning from community libraries.
These are useful resources that are infrequently used by a centre and which public institutions can lend out.
The massive funding announced in Parliament should also be used to help private preschool centres keep costs down and thereby keep their fees affordable.