Being overwhelmed with other priorities like work, dealing with children’s poor behaviour and logistical challenges are hurdles that lower-income families face when trying to maintain their children’s attendance rates in pre-school. From the second quarter of 2024, selected pre-schools run by anchor operators will get more funding from the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) to help children from these families improve their attendance and boost learning support.
The issue of pre-school attendance for children from lower-income families was identified as a work in progress by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) during its budget debate in March. Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli had said in Parliament that children from lower-income families enrolled in anchor operator pre-schools have a monthly attendance rate of about 72 per cent, lower than the 79 per cent attendance rate of their middle-income peer