The early childhood (EC) education sector is set to get a boost as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced new moves to promote its growth at the National Day Rally (NDR) on Aug. 20.

There will be 40,000 new full-day preschool places by 2023 and the sector will see new measures introduced, including:

• More EC education centres
• Establishment of the National Institute of Early Childhood Development
• Stronger attraction and employment support to the sector
• More structured development pathways for EC educators
• Increased government spending from $850 million currently to $1.7 billion per year over the next five years

The latest slew of measures for the sector are not unprecedented. It is clearly part of the government’s larger hope that Singaporeans will have more babies with a better EC sector, to complement the Baby Bonus scheme.

And since the first slew of measures to improve the sector were first introduced at NDR 2012 by PM Lee, the sector has undergone some changes in the last five years.

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More pre-school places since 2012

Pre-school places has seen a 50 per cent increase in the number of places to meet parents’ or aspiring parents’ needs, especially those who live in Punggol and Sengkang.

Childcare and kindergarten fees have remained stable

Subsidies and schemes introduced by the government over the last five years have kept EC education fees stable.

Improved quality of the EC sector

The last five years have seen the government raising the quality of EC centres and educators, including the setting up of the Early Childhood Development Agency in 2013, passing of the Early Childhood Development Centres Act in 2017, and improving the career prospects for EC educators.

If anything, check how the starting salary for EC educators have steadily increased since 2012.

Early childhood sector lifted, but not birth rate

Despite the improvements to the EC sector since 2012, Singaporeans still aren't having more babies it seems. In fact, birth rates have actually fallen.

Here are the births per Singaporean woman since 2012:

• 2012 - 1.29
• 2013 - 1.19
• 2014 - 1.25
• 2015 - 1.24
• 2016 - 1.20

Well, it remains to be seen now whether or not the newest measures to boost the EC sector will also boost the birth rate. Guess that's why PM Lee had to urge Singaporeans at the NDR to "Please have more babies!"

Top image from ECDA.

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