Rent has increased almost 20 per cent for Blue Lion Preschool since it opened its doors in the Siglap estate four years ago. - ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Forking out 40 per cent more in monthly rent in 2023 was a relief for pre-school Montessori Children’s House, said its principal Carolyn Tan.
The pre-school in Old Holland Road had initially been told its rent would go up by about 90 per cent, but managed to negotiate with its landlord to bring the amount down.
Ms Tan said the sharp hike in 2023 came after rent was frozen during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the past 35 years, rent had usually risen by 10 per cent to 15 per cent every two years for the pre-school operator, which runs one centre with 42 children.
“We are at the mercy of our landlord. A change in location would mean a potential loss of customer base, we can’t just up and go as most of our children live in this area,” said Ms Tan.
Montessori Children’s House is one of several smaller pre-schools which are facing challenges with higher rents and manpower costs in recent years.
Seven such operators – each with one to five pre-school outlets – told The Straits Times that such challenges have only grown more acute following rental hikes after the pandemic.
They also continue to face stiff competition from government-supported pre-schools – which offer teachers higher pay and have more affordable school fees – and larger commercial pre-school chains.
Independent pre-schools, which typically charge more than $1,000 in monthly fees, are unlike anchor and partner operators which receive funding from the Government to ensure their fees remain affordable. In comparison, full-day childcare fees are capped at $680 at centres run by anchor operators and at $720 at partner operator pre-schools.
These will drop further in 2025. Some parents have hence moved their children to these centres. Over six in 10 pre-school children are now enrolled in government-supported pre-schools, up from just half in 2019, according to the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). This is set to increase to eight in 10 children in 2025.
Children engage in their daily outdoor time at the rooftop playground at Sunny Bunny Montessori childcare. - PHOTO: SUNNY BUNNY MONTESSORI CHILDCARE
Increasing rent
Rent has increased almost 20 per cent for Blue Lion Preschool since it opened its doors in the Siglap estate four years ago. Its director Charmaine Teo said further hikes may force the pre-school, which has 21 children, to leave its current premises.
The pre-school opened during the pandemic with only six children. It took more than a year to increase its enrolment to 10 children, and another two years before it reached 21 children in 2023.
It increased its fees in January to cope with rising costs, and now charges $1,580 per month for full-day childcare.
Although it is becoming increasingly commercially unviable to operate small pre-schools, Ms Teo said they are still important as they offer families the option of “a home away from home”.
In response to queries on challenges faced by independent pre-schools, an ECDA spokesperson said: “Non-anchor operators who wish to set up pre-schools will need to lease space and negotiate rental rates directly with landlords, like any other business.
“Operators may also participate in competitive bids for government sites which are put up for public tender from time to time.”
The spokesperson said ECDA works with the Housing Board to develop new pre-schools in almost all HDB Build-To-Order developments, where there are more families with young children.
Most of these pre-school sites are then allocated to anchor operators to provide affordable and quality pre-school services for families.
Children from K1 and K2 take part in the opening circle to start the day. They meditate and sing a song as a way to connect with each other. - ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Keeping teachers and children
Another challenge cited by smaller pre-schools is retaining teachers and keeping up with higher salaries and better career prospects offered by larger chains.
From 2022 to 2024, early childhood educators in government-supported pre-schools had an increase of between 10 per cent and 30 per cent in their salaries.
At Greentree Montessori, salaries for its educators have risen by 30 per cent to 40 per cent over the past five years, said Mr Tay Ee Sheng, general manager and senior lead teacher of the pre-school. Rental costs also went up by 30 per cent across all its three branches in 2022, compared with 5 per cent to 10 per cent previously. As a result, fees were increased in 2023 to $1,780 per month for full-day childcare, and will go up again in 2025.
“We have largely absorbed the costs and tried our best to earn from other avenues, to alleviate the stress on parents,” said Mr Tay.
At Little Oxford Schoolhouse, which has 260 children across five centres, chief operating officer Mindy Chng said some teachers moved to bigger pre-schools as the operator could not match higher salaries elsewhere.
Teachers now also have more demands, such as wanting to manage fewer children, work fewer hours, or to have resting lounges which the schools struggle to provide as they are used by the children, she added.
To retain teachers, smaller pre-schools can offer more mentoring and individual attention, said Ms Chng. A smaller teacher-to-child ratio also means fewer children to manage.
“We have better flexibility and allow more room for creativity and staff voice, compared with larger schools which may be restricted by processes,” she added.
The owners of Sunny Bunny Montessori, Ms Ang Hui Ling and Ms Poh Ying Xia, bought over the school in 2022 after learning that its lease was ending. Ms Ang had chosen Sunny Bunny for her one-year-old daughter in 2020 after visiting more than 20 pre-schools as it followed the Montessori approach, had a low student-to-teacher ratio, a strong Chinese curriculum and an outdoor area.
Montessori is a method of education that involves child-led activities and hands-on learning.
The pre-school has since relocated from Upper Thomson to an industrial building in Ang Mo Kio with more than 50 children.
Ms Ang and Ms Poh said that despite making losses that ate into their personal savings, they increased teachers’ salaries by at least 20 per cent after the takeover. A few teachers had moved to larger pre-schools.
The pre-school also allows staff to work flexibly if they need to, including accommodating personal needs, Ms Ang said.
Children engage in their daily outdoor time at the rooftop playground at Sunny Bunny Montessori childcare. - PHOTO: SUNNY BUNNY MONTESSORI CHILDCARE
What smaller pre-schools offer
Associate Professor Sirene Lim, vice-dean of the S R Nathan School of Human Development at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said: “For as long as our pre-school sector remains largely privatised, there will continue to be competition in the market – to woo parents to use their services, as well as attract and retain quality teachers.”
In such systems, there tends to be fragmentation and possibly unhealthy competition, she added.
Hence, smaller private operators need to offer unique programmes or create special communities to co-exist and do well in the sector, she said.
Smaller pre-schools said parents like the fact that teachers can give each child more attention. Parents have mostly been understanding despite the higher fees, they said.
At Blue Lion Preschool, which is registered as a non-profit organisation, children are taught Buddhist values like living in harmony with self, others and the environment through daily activities.
When The Straits Times visited the centre on Aug 7, seven children were playing with mud among recycled car tyres, donated by a parent, during their daily one-hour outdoor time in the backyard.
Edible plants used to teach the children about natural pigments lined a fence stretching from the front porch to the backyard, where there was a heap of compost and a mini fish pond.
Grants from a private foundation and donors have kept the school afloat, said Ms Koh Hui Hua, the pre-school’s adviser.
Prof Lim said that to make the pre-school market a level playing field, the Government can consider providing grants to a wider range of pre-school operators and support stand-alone pre-schools with a track record of offering quality programmes or pioneering good practices.
She suggested that grants be given to “established and well-known centres that will not be able to form a ‘chain’ with any other organisation because of their unique characteristics, historical development, and (are) community served”.
Still, government-supported pre-schools may not be “as entirely standardised as some may think”, said Prof Lim.
“While large pre-school chains may have standardised curriculums, the quality of everyday experiences offered to children would differ according to the calibre of individual teachers or teams of professionals.
“It is the human touch that will make each pre-school quite distinct from another, even within a large chain.” - The Straits Times/ANN
