Parents and educators of pre-school children were heartened by measures announced on Saturday to lower fees and increase teachers' salaries at government-supported centres.
Ms Tan, who made the switch to early childhood education from optometry about eight years ago, said: "In the past, my mother, who was in the industry herself, tried to tell me not to join largely because of the pay... The raft of measures to boost early childhood education was announced by Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli on Saturday at the Early Childhood Celebrations at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, an event combining several award presentations across the sector.
Anchor operators - which receive government funding to keep costs affordable - currently employ more than 40 per cent of the pre-school workforce. They are PCF Sparkletots, My First Skool, M.Y World, Skool4Kidz and E-Bridge Pre-School.Meanwhile, with a lower cap on pre-school fees, parents will pay less to government-supported operators - which provide about 60 per cent of the 200,000 pre-school places here. The fees will fall by $40 for full-day childcare and infant care.