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SINGAPORE – To keep pre-school and childcare affordable for lower to middle income families, the gross monthly household income ceiling will be raised for the Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) and the Infant and Childcare Additional Subsidy from January 2027. <\/p>\n
With the ceiling raised from $12,000 to $15,000, more than 60,000 families with children enrolled in pre-schools are expected to benefit from more subsidies. <\/p>\n
For example, a median income household earning $12,500, with two children in anchor-operator childcare, will see their total out-of-pocket fees for both children be reduced by 35 per cent, from $730 in 2026 to $470 in 2027. <\/p>\n
Minister of State for Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming gave details of the subsidies during the debate on MSF\u2019s budget on March 6.<\/p>\n
The Student Care Fee Assistance (SCFA) scheme will also be updated from January 2027, as announced in Prime Minister Lawrence Wong\u2019s Budget speech on Feb 12. This is to ensure lower and lower-middle income families whose earnings have grown in the past few years can still benefit from the subsidies.<\/p>\n
The monthly income threshold to qualify for these subsidies will be increased from $4,500 to $6,500, along with higher caps across all subsidy tiers. This is expected to benefit around 13,000 students and their families, said Minister of State for Social and Family Development Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim in his speech. <\/p>\n
MSF is also extending the maximum SCFA period from 24 months to 36 months, he said.<\/p>\n
In 2025, the familes of around 80,000 children received the additional subsidy for infant care and childcare, and 8,900 children were under KiFAS. Around\u00a07,500 children\u00a0received SCFA in 2025, MSF said in response to queries from The Straits Times.<\/p>\n
Singapore has achieved its goal of ensuring that 80 per cent of pre-schoolers can have a place in a Government-supported pre-school. <\/p>\n
Singapore is also on track to add more than 40,000 full-day pre-school places in anchor operator pre-schools (AOPs) by 2029.<\/p>\n
Since Jan 1, full-day childcare fees at AOPs and partner operator pre-schools <\/p>\n have been reduced to $610 and $650 respectively<\/p>\n <\/a>. These pre-schools get government funding to keep fees low and have to adhere to a fee cap. <\/p>\n Mr Goh said the early education workforce will grow by another 3,500 educators by 2030 to meet sector needs, and that attracting and retaining quality educators remains a priority. <\/p>\n Responding to Mr Melvin Yong (Radin Mas), who called for greater support to be given to educators, Mr Goh acknowledged the challenges they face, including having little time to engage in tasks like lesson planning or relevant upskilling, given the long hours they spend caring for children. <\/p>\n MSF said it is reviewing educators\u2019 working conditions and workload, such as measures to provide more time outside classrooms for non-teaching duties like lesson planning.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will also embark on a sector-wide job redesign project to review the job scopes, work processes and support structures in pre-schools, to improve work experiences,\u201d said a spokesperson.<\/p>\n