After the initial glow of welcoming a new baby into the family and taking hundreds of pictures of your kid every time he does something cute, reality will set in sooner or later.

You might have to return to work soon and there isn't anyone to care for your child during the day. Alas, it's time to make childcare arrangements.

Childcare refers to a combination of focused education programmes and quality care for children such as meals, nap time etc. It's not to be confused with kindergarten, although there are overlaps. 

For instance, childcare is typically catered for children from 18 months to below seven years old while kindergarten is usually for children between four to seven. Ultimately, the curriculum is very different and caters to different needs. Many preschools offer both services together and separately. 

So, what is the difference between government-supported childcare and private childcare? You already know many parents are willing to sacrifice life and limb to get their kids into an elite primary school. But at the preschool level, what are the factors that truly matter to you and your child?

In this article, we compare the fees between government-supported childcare and private childcare and other factors to consider when making your decision. 

What is government-supported child care?

Government-supported preschools refer to centres under the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA)'s Anchor Operator and Partner Operator schemes, and MOE Kindergarten. 

Who's ECDA and what are those schemes? ECDA is the regulatory and developmental agency for the early childhood sector in Singapore. They're responsible for making sure that the preschools they support are kept accessible and affordable. 

Anchor Operators are provided funding support to keep to a monthly fee cap. 

• $720(excluding GST) for full-day child care
• $1,275 (excluding GST) for full-day infant care
• $160 (excluding GST) for kindergarten 

Anchor Operators include: PCF Sparkletots Preschool, My First Skool, My World Preschool, Skool4kidz, and E-Bridge Pre-School. 

Partner Operators are provided funding support to keep to a monthly fee cap for Singapore citizen children. 

• $760 (excluding GST) full-day child care
• $1,330 (excluding GST) for infant care programme 

There are currently 324 appointed Partner Operators. This should already give you a good idea of what sort of fees to expect for government-supported child care. 

Overview of Government-Supported (Anchor Operator) child care monthly fees

PAP community foundation Sparkletots full-day child care monthly fees

PCF Sparkletots is Singapore's largest preschool operator and employer. It currently operates 360 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 PAP Community Foundation Sparkletots, aka, 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 seven years old. Its centres operates from 7am to 7pm, from Monday to Friday, and 7am to 2pm on Saturday. 

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. 

	Monthly fees
Singapore Citizens	$734.40
Singapore Permanent Residents	$972
Foreigners	$1166.40
Registration Fee	$54
Insurance	$3 (annual)
Uniform	$20

My First Skool monthly fees full-day child care monthly fees

My First Skool is also one of Singapore's larger preschool operators with over 150 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. 

	Monthly fees
Singapore Citizens	$734.40
Registration Fee	$86.40
Insurance	$5.40 (annual)
Uniform (4 sets)	$108
Mattress Cover (2 sets)	$17.28

My World Preschool full-day child care 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.

Their website offers a 360° view of each of their centres. Pretty cool. 

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. 

	Monthly fees
Singapore Citizens	$770.40
Singapore Permanent Residents	$963
Foreigners	$1155.60
Registration Fee	$85.60
Annual Insurance	N.A
Uniform (4 sets)	Compulsory, but not stated on the website

Skool4kidz full-day child care monthly fees

Skool4Kidz is a consortium formed by Kinderland International Education Pte Ltd, a pioneer in the industry with over 40 years of experience nurturing and educating young children in Singapore and in the region. 

It has 22 centres nationwide with a capacity of around 4,500 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. 

	Monthly fees
Singapore Citizens	$734
Singapore Permanent Residents	$972
Foreigners	$1166
Registration Fee	$86.40
Deposit	1 month general program fee (exclusive of subsidy) is payable at time of registration. (once-off)
Insurance	$8.64 (annual)
Uniform (min 3 sets)	$114

E-Bridge Pre-School full-day child care monthly fees

E-Bridge Pre-School operates 24 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. 

	Monthly fees
Singapore Citizens	$680
Singapore Permanent Residents	$900
Foreigners	$1080
Registration Fee	$86.40
Insurance	$4.32 (annual)
Refundable deposit	1 month child care fee (once-off)
Uniform	Price not stated on the website

MOE Kindergarten full-day child care 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 2023, 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.

The downside is that there may not always be an MOE Kindergarten near you. There are many in Punggol, though, presumably because there are more young families there.

What are private child care fees 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:

• St Andrew's Cathedral Child Development Centre: From $700
• Appleland Playhouse: From $830
• Cherie Hearts: From $980 to $1,350; most branches in the $1,000 range
• Kinderland Preschool: $876.30 to $1,470, most branches about $1,400
• Superland Montessori Pre-School: $962 to $1,700
• Mindchamps Preschool: $1,965 to $2,102.55
• Chiltern House: $2,150 to $2,385
• Little Village on the Grange: $4,010
• Kiddiwinkie Schoolhouse: From $1,600

Beyond fees, what other factors are there to consider?

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.

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, as one MOE teacher found out in her search on childcare in Singapore. 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.

A note on childcare subsidies

If your child is a Singapore citizen, you are entitled to a monthly subsidy of $300 if you enrol your child in full-time childcare subject to both parents working.

The amount is halved 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 $100 to $440.

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.

ALSO READ: Best savings accounts to open for your child (2023)

This article was first published in MoneySmart.