New eligibility criteria for preschool Anchor Operator Scheme announced

New eligibility criteria for preschool Anchor Operator Scheme announced

    By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid and Monica Kotwani
    POSTED: 27 Jun 2013 3:50 PM
 
Religious organisations which run preschool centres and commercial operators will now be able to qualify for the government's Anchor Operator Scheme, under new eligibility criteria revealed on Thursday.

SINGAPORE: Commercial preschool operators and religious organisations that run preschool centres will now be allowed to apply for the government's Anchor Operator Scheme, under new eligibility criteria revealed on Thursday.

Previously, only not-for-profit organisations could apply.

Getting anchor operator status will allow access to government funding.

Those applying will need to show that they are motivated by a strong social mission to provide good quality and affordable services.

The current two anchor operators, PCF and NTUC's My First Skool, are not only eligible for government subsidies, but they also get first dibs over the allocation of sites in HDB estates.

In turn, the two operators, which run some 330 centres, are required to provide good quality services that are accessible to most low- and middle-income families.

In calling for more anchor operators to come on board, Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing said the expansion of the scheme would give parents more options and help cater to the diverse learning needs of children.

Religious organisations that run preschools can now also apply to become anchor operators, but they have to ensure their programmes are secular and cater to children of all backgrounds.

Mr Chan said: "If they have good innovative practices that can drive the cost down and lower prices for our parents we welcome that, but at the same time, money-making cannot be their primary goal. The special mission must be their primary goal, when it comes to educating and laying the foundations for our youths."

Those interested to become anchor operators will have to meet strict criteria.

These include running at least ten centres or having an enrolment of 1,000 children, providing a financial guarantee of six months of operating costs or S$10 million (whichever is lower), and having a governing body with independent members.

Applicants will also need to cap their monthly fees for services.

For a full-day childcare programme, fees cannot exceed S$720.

Kindergarten fees will be capped at S$160 and infant care fees at S$1,275.

Operators said they understand the rationale behind the stringent criteria, but they are worried it may squeeze out smaller operators, which are already having a tough time with competition from bigger players.

Frances Ng is the founder of Carpe Diem Group, which oversees 26 centres.

He highlighted the criteria of showing six months of operating costs based on the total number of centres for that year.

He said: "That is still quite substantial... We don't have that many operators in Singapore with that kind of finances. If you look at the market, over the last few years, they are constantly being squeezed out with the newcomers, new commercial operators, and in the last three years, with more AOP centres coming out, they feel the squeeze further.

"Smaller operators will definitely have a tougher time ahead of them, but having said that, I think it's not impossible to do well, they just need to find their own niche."

Mr Ng said the way around this is to enter into a joint venture with other "like-minded" people. He said he is in talks with a few other potential partners.

Under changes to the scheme, anchor operators will now have to ensure all their teachers are diploma-trained, compared to 80 per cent of teachers before.

Some operators Channel NewsAsia spoke with have welcomed this move, saying it would generally add to the quality of teachers, but some are worried it would add to the severe manpower crunch that is already present.

Mr Ng said: "Five years ago, the number of new centres was about 40 centres. Three years ago, it... doubled to about 80-90 new centres a year for the last three years. With that increase in (number of) centres, we don't have enough teachers to accomodate the additional centres we have.

“With the new criteria of requiring all teachers in the AOP centres to be diploma holders, it's going to pose a huge challenge, not just for the new AOPs but across the board. Everybody will be fighting for the small cake that we have."

He added: "I'm not against increasing the number of centres to accommodate parents, but I think we need to manage the growth across the industry."

Interested operators have until 27 August to submit their proposals.

The Early Childhood Development Agency, which is overseeing this call for proposals, said only those who meet all criteria will be selected.

- CNA/fa/xq

- wong chee tat :)