Government-Supported Childcare vs Private Childcare: Which Should You Choose? (2025)

After the excitement of welcoming a new baby and capturing every adorable moment, reality soon sets in: you may need to return to work, and someone must care for your child during the day. That’s when many parents start exploring childcare options.

So, what’s the difference between government-supported and private childcare? While parents often hear stories of the fierce competition for top primary schools, the preschool stage comes with its own set of decisions—ranging from cost to curriculum and even waiting lists.

In this article, we break down the key differences between government-supported and private childcare in Singapore, compare fees, and highlight important factors to help you make the best choice for your family.

Government-supported childcare vs private childcare in Singapore (2025)

1. What is government-supported childcare?
2. Overview of Government-Supported (Anchor Operator) childcare monthly fees
3. What are private childcare fees in Singapore like?
4. Beyond fees, what other factors are there to consider for childcare?
5. Childcare subsidies for Singaporean Citizens

1. What is government-supported childcare?

Government-supported childcare refers to preschools that are part of Singapore’s Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) schemes:

• Anchor Operator (AOP) scheme
• Partner Operator (POP) scheme

Who is ECDA?

ECDA is the national body overseeing all preschools in Singapore. It ensures that centres receiving government support remain accessible, affordable, and meet quality standards. One way the ECDA ensures costs are kept affordable is through setting monthly fee caps on preschools.

Government-supported preschools set a clear upper limit on monthly fees, and you may qualify for further subsidies on top of this (depending on your family’s income and working status). This makes government-supported childcare the most budget-friendly option for many Singaporean families.

Anchor Operator (AOP) Scheme

The Anchor Operator (AOP) scheme provides extra funding to selected preschool operators with the specific aim of increasing access to good quality and affordable early childhood care, especially for children from lower-income or disadvantaged backgrounds. The scheme began in 2009 and was enhanced in 2014 to further boost affordability and quality.

Fee caps for Anchor Operators (2025)

List of Anchor Operators

Partner Operator (POP) Scheme

The Partner Operator (POP) scheme helps appointed childcare centres offer accessible, affordable, and high-quality childcare and infant care services. Launched in 2016, the scheme aims to support more families by widening the pool of affordable options.

For the current POP term (2021–2025), ECDA has appointed 323 childcare centres across Singapore under this scheme.

Fee caps for Partner Operators (2025)

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2. Overview of Government-Supported (Anchor Operator) childcare monthly fees

PAP Community Foundation Sparkletots childcare monthly fees

PCF Sparkletots is Singapore’s largest preschool operator and employer. It currently operates almost 350 preschools island-wide and boasts an enrolment of over 40,000 children. You probably don’t have to worry about your kiddo being short of friends. 

Childcare at PCF Sparkletots features a combination of a focused education programme and quality care for children such as meals, naptime etc. It is catered for children from 18 months to below 7 years old. Its centres operates from 7 am to 7 pm, from Monday to Friday.

The monthly fees below are GST-inclusive, before the deduction of subsidies for children who are Singaporean Citizens, and based on the ECDA Anchor Operators fee cap. 

My First Skool monthly childcare fees

My First Skool is also one of Singapore’s larger preschool operators with 160 preschools islandwide. 

The monthly fees below are GST-inclusive, before the deduction of subsidies for children who are Singaporean Citizens, and based on the ECDA Anchor Operators fee cap. 

My World Preschool childcare monthly fees

My World Preschool has been around for a while now. It was founded by Metropolitan YMCA in 1980 and since then, they have been focused on delivering quality child care services with an emphasis on character development and teaching of values.

The monthly fees below are GST-inclusive, before the deduction of subsidies for children who are Singaporean Citizens, and based on the ECDA Anchor Operators fee cap. 

Skool4Kidz childcare monthly fees

Skool4Kidz is a consortium formed by Kinderland International Education Pte Ltd., a pioneer in the industry with over 45 years of experience nurturing and educating young children in Singapore and in the region. 

It has 28 centres nationwide with a capacity of around 5,700 children. 

The monthly fees below are GST-inclusive, before the deduction of subsidies for children who are Singaporean Citizens, and based on the ECDA Anchor Operators fee cap. 

E-Bridge Pre-School childcare monthly fees

E-Bridge Pre-School operates over 20 centres around Singapore. Detailed information of each centre’s facilities and services provided are available on its website. Check out if there’s one near you.

The monthly fees below are GST-inclusive, before the deduction of subsidies for children who are Singaporean Citizens,and based on the ECDA Anchor Operators fee cap. 

MOE Kindergarten childcare monthly fees

Kindergarten Care (KCare) is a care service available in all MOE Kindergartens (MK). KCare operates from Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm, including school holidays.

In 2025, the maximum KCare monthly fee is $415. KCare fees are payable during the June and December holidays.

All Singapore Citizen children are eligible for a basic KCare subsidy of $150 per month.

Find an MOE Kindergarten near you.

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3. What are private childcare fees in Singapore like?

Private childcare prices are generally higher than government-supported centres, although there are a smattering that offer similar prices (but note that low prices often mean being located in less central areas like Chong Pang or Buangkok).

On the high end of the scale they can get astronomically expensive at over $2,000 a month. Yikes. Here’s a sampling of the full-time child care prices charged at private centres:

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4. Beyond fees, what other factors are there to consider for childcare?

As there is nothing stopping private childcare centres from offering services that are as basic or as atas as they want, it is hard to definitively compare the offerings of government and private centres.

Student to teacher ratio

One thing that must be said, though, is that government centres tend to have more students for every teacher than the average private childcare centre. So if you prefer a low student-teacher ratio, pick a private centre instead.

Teaching style

Some parents also tend to find that the PAP Community Foundation teaching style tends to be more relaxed, and students get to play quite a bit. Kiasu parents don’t like this as they feel their kids aren’t learning enough.

When kiasu parents fork out the money to send their kids to a more upmarket preschool, it is usually because a) they want the kids to learn more and be more prepared for primary school, or b) the childcare centre claims to use a special methodology (eg. Montessori).

It should be noted, however, that some of the childcare centres claiming to use a special internationally-renowned methodology may not in fact apply it as strictly as their overseas counterparts. You should also never assume that a more expensive centre is necessarily a better one, as some parents have found out the hard way.

Facilities

Facilities also matter. A premium childcare like Chiltern House preschool has an indoor playground as well as individual rooms for each level. Government-supported child cares tend to be adopt an open concept. Lutheran Preschool even has a computer lab for their preschoolers.

Practical factors

Ultimately, your choice of childcare centre will depend on various factors, from the practical—distance to your home, price—to intangibles such as whether you like the teachers at a particular branch and the school’s methodology.

Don’t be surprised if you find quality varying greatly between centres from the same chain. Just because your friend’s kids go to a Kinderland or Mindchamps branch doesn’t mean you can send your kid to another branch and expect the same experience. Read parent reviews on individual branches on Skoolopedia before making a commitment.

If you have the luxury of time, you may request to sit in some of the classes in shortlisted kindergartens and observe what goes on during the day.

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5. Childcare subsidies for Singaporean Citizens

If your child is a Singapore Citizen, you are entitled to a monthly subsidy of up to $300 if you enrol your child in full-time childcare subject to both parents working. The amount is halved to $150 if the mother is not working. But fret not, there are special considerations—such as if you’re between jobs, or medically unfit for work. 

If your monthly household income is below $12,000, you might also qualify for a variable additional subsidy of $80 to $467.

The childcare centre must be licensed by ECDA for you to qualify for the subsidies. By law, all childcare centres must be licensed, but just in case, make sure any centre you’re considering is on the list. Also, you can pay for your school fees with a service like CardUp, which allows you to pay by credit card and earn benefits. It’s pretty much a no brainer since you’re going to have to pay those school fees anyway.

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