In his National Day Rally speech, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had announced that the number of MOE Kindergartens would be increased from 15 to 50 over the next 5 years.
And now, in a press release, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has officially confirmed plans for expansion.
Ms Lai Wei Lin, Deputy Secretary (Policy), MOE has been quoted as saying, “With more MOE Kindergartens opening across Singapore in the next 5 years, parents will have greater choice and access to quality and affordable pre-school services."
"Parents can be more assured that their children will be well taken care of in their early childhood years."
Meanwhile, here is what you need to know about the new MOE Kindergartens in Singapore:
- Currently, there are 15 MOE kindergartens in Singapore, and 3 more will open in Punggol in 2018. The new Punggol MOE kindergartens will be co-located with Oasis Primary School, Punggol Cove Primary School and Waterway Primary School.
MOE will increase the total number of MOE Kindergartens in Singapore to 50 by 2023, in phases.
- 13 new MOE Kindergartens will open in 2019 and 2020, in areas of demand like Sengkang, Yishun etc. Check out the picture below for details:
- All new MOE Kindergartens will be co-located with primary schools. This is to ensure greater collaboration between kindergartens and primary schools, and for smoother transition of preschool children into Primary 1.
Hence, 3 existing community-based MOE Kindergartens will be progressively relocated to nearby primary schools. MK@Fernvale Link will relocate to Fern Green Primary School in 2019, followed by MK@Yishun to Huamin Primary School in 2020. The re-location of MK@Tampines will be announced at a later date.
- As announced in February 2017, the two largest pre-school anchor operators - PCF Sparkletots and NTUC My First Skool - will set up new Early Years Centres(EYC) catering to children aged 2 months to 4 years old.
As part of a pilot programme beginning in 2019, all new MOE kindergartens opening in 2019 and 2020 would collaborate with these pre-school anchor operators. Eligible Nursery 2 children (Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents) in the EYCs will be guaranteed a K1 place in their partner MOE kindergartens.
Also READ: More parents opting for MOE Kindergartens in Singapore!
(Source: MOE, The Straits Times, Channel NewsAsia)