More needy pupils at My First Skool get support for enrichment classes

More pre-schoolers in My First Skool (MFS) centres from lower-income families will get financial aid to attend enrichment classes to develop their self-confidence and creativity.

- Elisha Tushara

In 2025, 10 more MFS centres in Woodlands, Yishun, Tampines, Bedok and Hougang were included in the You've Got Talent programme, which provides opportunities for needy children.

The programme is now available at 30 centres, up from 20 in 2024, and reaches 530 children annually, up from 300 in 2023. Previously available only to Kindergarten 1 and 2 pupils, it is now also open to Nursery 2 children at selected centres. Bright Horizons Fund, the charity arm of MFS operator NTUC First Campus (NFC), has set aside $250,000 in 2025 for the programme.

Started in 2015, You've Got Talent, which offers after-school classes in sports, music and art, has benefited close to 3,000 children.

By 2028, all 162 centres in the MFS network will be included in the programme and this will benefit about 1,200 children every year, said NFC chief strategy and transformation officer Louisa Chng.

The enrichment classes include wushu, arts, music and movement, speech and drama, and most recently, aikido. NFC works with various established vendors to conduct the activities at the MFS centres.

The classes cost $110 to $155 a month for four sessions, and take place at the pre-school centres when the formal curriculum ends, either at 4.30pm or 5pm.