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SINGAPORE – Most of the affected children from Beyond Social Services\u2019 (BSS) pre-school have found places in other centres, following the agency\u2019s move to close the school at the end of 2025. <\/p>\n
Of the 14 enrolled children, six will graduate from the pre-school, known as Healthy Start Child Development Centre (HSCDC), by the end of 2025 and are unaffected by the closure. <\/p>\n
Of the remaining eight, seven children have found places at alternative pre-schools or secured care arrangements, with help from BSS and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). <\/p>\n
BSS and ECDA gave these figures on Nov 13 in response to queries from The Straits Times. <\/p>\n
BSS had announced in October that HSCDC will <\/p>\n shut down operations at the end of 2025 <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n after more than 20 years<\/p>\n <\/a> due to declining enrolment. <\/p>\n The number of children enrolled had dropped from more than 50 in 2018 to 14 in 2024, the organisation said, with fewer referrals when families relocated due to housing redevelopment. <\/p>\n HSCDC opened in 2002 after a survey done in the Henderson and Bukit Merah estates found that many children were at risk due to inadequate childcare, parental incarceration, or leaving school early. <\/p>\n The centre in Bukit Merah was the pre-school that four-year-old Megan Khung, who was fatally abused by her mother and the woman\u2019s boyfriend,\u00a0<\/p>\n attended before her death in 2020<\/p>\n <\/a>. Teachers and social workers had tried to help Megan after discovering bruises on the girl in school. <\/p>\n