7,000 needy pre-schoolers in My First Skool to benefit from more funds

Charity to commit $5m a year to support financial, learning, health and social areas

- Elisha Tushara

NTUC First Campus' charity arm Bright Horizons Fund will be increasing the amount of its support by $2 million a year to benefit 7,000 pre-schoolers from lower-income families.

From 2025, it will commit $5 million a year up from $3 million currently to support pre-schoolers in NTUC First Campus' (NFC) My First Skool centres in four areas: financial, learning and development, health and well-being, and social.

Mr Heng Chee How, chairman of Bright Horizons Fund, said the fund's four pillars of support for lower-income families are important to help them holistically, instead of just lowering fees for preschool.

"First, we lower the barrier to come to school. Don't let the fee be the hurdle... Then (come) the professional and technical support interventions," he said.

Mr Heng, who is also Senior Minister of State for Defence, said that it is equally important to work on a family's confidence and social skills, provide family support and form partnerships with the families for the good of the children.

"When they can see that what we're doing is actually value-adding, and they can see the improvement in their children, they can then see the hope," he said.

NFC's chief child support officer Louisa Chng said the fund, which was started in 2008, has evolved from mostly providing financial aid through school fee subsidies and support for schooling essentials such as uniforms, field trip expenses and Kindergarten 2 graduation expenses.

More than half of the money will be used to enhance learning and development support programmes for children.