Lower pre-school fees, review of family services

Debate on ministries' budgets: Social and Family Development

- Syarafana Shafeeq

Pre-school fees will be further reduced from 2026, and families in need will receive more financial assistance, along with increased subsidies for long-term care services for those with disabilities.

Here are some of the areas covered during the debate on the Ministry of Social and Family Development's (MSF) budget in Parliament on March 10.

LOWER PRE-SCHOOL FEE CAPS

Attending pre-school will be made more affordable with a further lowering of fee caps for Singaporean children at centres under the anchor operator and partner operator schemes.

From January 2026, full-day childcare fee caps will be reduced by $30, to $610 for anchor operator centres and $650 for partner operator centres, excluding goods and services tax, said Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling.

Fees were previously reduced progressively for anchor centres and partner centres—pre-school operators that receive funding from the Government to keep their fees at a certain cap to ensure affordability—from $720 and $760, respectively, in 2021 to $640 and $680, respectively, now.