Preschool fee caps to be lowered by S$30 from 2026, among other initiatives targeting affordability

Monthly fee caps for Singapore Citizen children at preschools under the Anchor Operator (AOP) and Partner Operator (POP) schemes will be lowered by S$30 from Jan. 1, 2026.

The number of full-day preschool places, including for infants, will also increase from 2025 till 2029.

This is part of the Singapore government's efforts to make preschools more affordable and accessible, said Sun Xueling, Minister of State in the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), at the ministry’s Committee of Supply debate on Mar. 7.

This is also in line with the government’s goal to give every child “a good start in life and the opportunity to achieve their full potential”, MSF said in a press release.

Adding more infant and child care places

In 2015, there were about 120,000 full-day infant care and childcare places.

Singapore now has approximately 220,000 full-day infant care and childcare places that are sufficient to accommodate every resident child aged three and above, the ministry said.

From 2025 to 2029, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) will work with AOPs to add almost 40,000 new full-day preschool places.

Sun said in parliament that around 6,000 of these would cater to infants.

Enhancing access to affordable and quality preschools

The government is committed to improving access to affordable and quality preschools by increasing the number of government-supported preschool places, the ministry said.

It was previously announced at the National Day Rally in 2019 that Singapore aims to achieve the target of 80 per cent of preschoolers being able to have a place in a government-supported preschool.

This target is set to be met by the end of 2025, MSF added.

Lowering fee caps

One of the initiatives to make preschools more affordable is to lower fee caps for Singapore Citizen children at preschools under the AOP and POP schemes.

The fee caps for AOP and POP centres have progressively been reduced from S$720 and S$760 in 2021 to S$640 and S$680 (excluding Goods & Services Tax (GST)) per month currently.

From Jan. 1, 2026, full-day childcare fee caps will be reduced by an additional S$30, the ministry said.

This means that the fees for full-day childcare at AOP and POP centres will now be capped at S$610 and S$650 per month, respectively.

With existing basic and means-tested subsidies, the monthly out-of-pocket expenses (including GST) paid by most families will be lowered further to between S$3 and S$409, MSF said.

The 2026 fee cap reductions will allow families to enjoy savings of up to S$456 per year for full-day childcare at an AOP centre, MSF said.

Additionally, from December 2024, all lower-income families with a gross monthly household income of S$6,000 and below can receive the maximum childcare subsidies for their income tier.

Top photo via Little Footprints Preschool