Childcare and Preschool for Newcomers

If you have moved to Singapore with a young child, one of the first and most expensive questions is where they will spend their days. The good news: your child can attend a licensed preschool whatever pass you hold. The catch: the generous government subsidies and fee caps that make childcare affordable for locals are tied to Singapore citizenship, so a foreign or permanent-resident (PR) family pays considerably more. Here is how the system is priced, and how to find the cheapest legitimate route.

Can my child go to preschool here?

Yes. Preschool in Singapore is not compulsory, and enrolment is open to children regardless of their — or their parents’ — immigration status. A child on a Dependant’s Pass or a Long-Term Visit Pass, or a PR child, can enrol at any centre licensed by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), subject to places. Programmes split by age into infant care (2 to 18 months) and childcare (18 months to 6 years), the latter running up through the kindergarten years (Nursery to K2).

The three fee tiers — and who pays what

Singapore preschools fall into three price bands, and the band matters more than the brand:

• Anchor Operators (AOP) — the five most heavily funded chains (PCF Sparkletots, My First Skool, My World Preschool, Skool4Kidz and E-Bridge). ECDA caps their fees for Singapore Citizen children at S$610 a month for full-day childcare, S$1,235 for full-day infant care and S$150 for kindergarten, all excluding GST.
• Partner Operators (POP) — 380 centres run by 33 operators on a term running 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030. Their SC-child caps are a little higher: S$650 childcare and S$1,290 infant care, excluding GST.
• Private and international preschools — everyone else. No fee cap at all; fees are set per centre and can run several times the anchor rate.

The crucial detail for a newcomer: those caps are written “for Singapore Citizen children.” A PR or foreign child at the very same anchor centre pays a higher, separately published fee.

Full-day childcare (Playgroup to K2) monthly fee at M.Y World Preschool by citizenship, before GST and subsidies. Source: M.Y World Preschool, October 2026.

Why the subsidies don’t reach your child

ECDA preschool subsidies exist to lower the bill for citizen families, and the eligibility rule is explicit: only Singapore Citizen (SC) children at a licensed centre receive them.

• Basic Subsidy — every SC child qualifies. For a working main applicant it is S$600 a month for infant care and S$300 for childcare (S$150 if the main applicant is not working).
• Additional Subsidy — means-tested, on top, for a working mother: up to S$710 for infant care or S$467 for childcare, where gross monthly household income is S$12,000 or below (rising to S$15,000 from 1 January 2027).
• KiFAS — the kindergarten fee-assistance scheme is likewise SC-children only, and private kindergartens are excluded.

Because your child is a PR or foreigner, none of these apply. There is no reduced “newcomer” subsidy — the figure the centre quotes for your citizenship is simply what you pay.

Infant care vs childcare: the real monthly cost

Infant care is the costliest stage everywhere, because of the higher staff-to-child ratio. Using M.Y World Preschool — an anchor operator that publishes its fees by citizenship — the 2026 monthly figures (before GST) are:

ECDA monthly fee caps for Singapore Citizen children, by scheme.

A PR child pays a middle tier; a foreign child pays most. And remember the citizen column is before their subsidy — a working citizen family’s net childcare cost can fall to around S$310 after the Basic Subsidy, a figure no newcomer can reach.

Extra costs: GST, deposit and registration

The monthly fee is not the whole picture:

• GST at 9% is added to the quoted (GST-exclusive) fee at GST-registered centres.
• A registration fee (around S$80 at M.Y World) is charged once on enrolment.
• A deposit of roughly one to two months’ fee is taken before the child starts, refundable on proper withdrawal. Deposits are also tiered by citizenship, so a foreign family’s deposit is larger than a citizen’s.

Budget for these one-off amounts on top of the first month — enrolment day can mean handing over the first month, a deposit and registration together.

The 2030 fee cuts — and why they won’t help you

At the 2026 National Day Rally the Government announced that full-day fees at Government-supported centres will fall to S$150 a month for childcare and S$300 for infant care, phased in from 2028 and reaching those levels by 2030, with full subsidies extended regardless of the applicant’s working status. It is a major change — but read the fine print: it applies to Singapore Citizen children. A newcomer family’s fee is not part of this plan, so do not factor the lower numbers into your own budget.

How to enrol as a newcomer

1. Find a centre with a place. Use the LifeSG preschool search to filter by area and programme, and join waitlists early — infant care in particular is tight.
2. Confirm the fee for your child’s citizenship. Ask the centre for its PR / foreigner fee table, the deposit, the registration fee and whether GST applies.
3. Enrol and pay the deposit. The centre’s own enrolment form comes first; the place is secured by the deposit.
4. Subsidy step (citizen children only). Subsidy applications run through LifeSG with Singpass, and are means-tested via the HOMES system using CPF/IRAS income data. A foreigner without a Singpass account has the centre trigger the form using their passport number — but as a non-citizen child you will not qualify for the subsidy itself; this step matters only if your child is, or becomes, a Singapore Citizen.

Frequently asked questions

Can a child on a Dependant’s Pass attend childcare? Yes. Any child legally resident in Singapore can enrol at a licensed centre, places permitting, regardless of pass type.

Do PRs get any childcare subsidy? No. ECDA subsidies are for Singapore Citizen children only. A PR child pays the PR fee with no Basic or Additional Subsidy.

Is the fee I see inclusive of GST? Usually not — ECDA caps and most published fees are stated before 9% GST. Ask the centre whether its quote includes GST.

Which is cheaper for a non-citizen, anchor or private? Anchor and partner operators are almost always cheaper because their fees are regulated; private and international preschools set their own uncapped rates.

Will the 2028–2030 fee cuts lower my bill? No. They apply to Singapore Citizen children at Government-supported centres, not to foreign or PR children.

Related

If you are weighing school options as your child grows, see international vs local schools. For how family passes work, read the Dependant’s Pass and LOC, and for the wider financial picture of a Budget year, what the Budget means for newcomers.

General information only, from ECDA, gov.sg, a licensed operator’s published fees and IRAS, with the date each figure was checked. Fees vary by centre and change over time — confirm the current figure for your child’s citizenship with the specific preschool.