ESM Goh thinks the issue of pre-school education will be a “game-changer”

The People’s Action Party (PAP) Members of Parliament (MPs) have started their walkabouts and feeling out the sentiments on the ground.

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and the MPs from Marine Parade Group Representation Committee (GRC) met with Grassroots leaders at Wisma Geylang Serai “to understand their take on the subjects raised by PM at his National Day Rally”.

ESM Goh added that crucial topics such as education, especially pre-school; retirement and CPF changes; and climate change are topics that they focused on during on the MPs conversations with the grassroots leaders.

Last month (August 28), Manpower Minister Josephine Teo, who oversees population matters, Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee and Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor announced that lower-income families may have to pay as little as S$3 a month for full-day childcare.

Read related: Josephine Teo says the increase in childcare centre fees not altogether unfair

They also added that the monthly household income ceiling for additional childcare and kindergarten subsidies was being raised to S$12,000.

The move makes it such that lower-income families only pay between S$3 and S$390 a month for full-day childcare at pre-schools run by anchor operators that charge monthly fees of S$770 (after Goods and Services Tax).

However, on September 17, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) announced that about 330 childcare centres in Singapore will be raising their fees for full-day childcare for Singapore citizens next year.

In an interview, Josephine Teo commented that there is “some fairness” in them raising the fees because the fees among childcare centres, even those under the same operator, can be “quite different” despite having similar resources. /TISG

Read related: When the government gives you a chicken wing, they want to take away the whole chicken :SDP on PM Lee’s National Day Rally