Level playing field for non-profit kindergartens to keep them afloat

I read with much interest the report, “Parents fight to keep non-profit preschools alive, as popularity of MOE kindergartens grows” (July 14).

In 2015 and 2016, my elder child attended the Bethesda Serangoon Church Sunbeam Kindergarten in Upper Serangoon. We were disappointed when it closed, and transferred him to the St Paul’s Church Kindergarten.

We had a good experience with both schools, which were chosen mainly for their curriculum, values and character-building (we are Buddhists).

To keep non-profit kindergartens alive, we should level the playing field for operators.

First, the Government should equalise subsidies for working mothers and apply them to all preschools. Right now, only working mothers whose children attend licensed childcare centres receive a basic S$300 subsidy, for example.

While I understand the intention is to encourage women to return to the workforce, those whose children attend non-profit kindergartens could also be working full-time.

The programmes at these kindergartens typically last three or four hours, and some mothers may have to rely on family members to care for their children.

How are they different from working mothers whose children are in all-day childcare? Both ways, mothers still contribute to the workforce.

Finally, as these kindergartens are not-for-profit and inject diversity into the early-childhood sector, the authorities should provide funding to bolster their operations.

Most of them are supported by an affiliated church, putting them at a financial disadvantage vis-a-vis Ministry of Education (MOE) kindergartens.

Our young minds are inquisitive and receptive to various forms of learning and development. The MOE should look into the quality of early-childhood education at various institutions, to determine how to support them. 

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