OCBC, NTUC First Campus set up funding for free pre-school education for kids of low-income families
SINGAPORE — OCBC Bank and NTUC First Campus (NFC) unveiled their Campus Bridging Programme, which aims to make pre-school education free for children from low-income families from 2020 to 2024.
In a media release on Monday (23 September), OCBC Bank announced that it will fund an average of two years of childcare fees for children of NTUC members with monthly household incomes of S$4,500 or less who will begin classes at My First Skool from 1 January next year.
Each eligible child will also receive a one-time payout of S$400 into his or her Child Development Account (CDA). This will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Singapore government if the child’s family meets the criteria for the Baby Bonus Scheme.
The total amount of S$800 can cover the first two years of childcare fees of S$720 (after government subsidy) for families with household income of less than S$4,500 a month.
For families with a household income of S$3,000 and below who pay school fees of S$72 for two years after the government subsidy, the remaining money can be used for other education and healthcare expenses approved under the Baby Bonus Scheme.
An estimated 500 children will benefit from the programme each year, making it a total of 2,500 children over five years.
Other financial help rom OCBC
OCBC Bank and staff will also contribute S$1 million over five years to the NFC’s Bright Horizons Fund, which provides financial support to children from low-income families, covering school uniform, field trip and learning programme expenses.
The bank will also organise financial literacy workshops for parents to help them better manage family finances.
This collaboration was cemented in a signing ceremony on Monday between Samuel Tsien, OCBC Bank’s group CEO, and Chan Tee Seng, NFC’s CEO, at the My First Skool campus at Boon Lay Community Centre. The ceremony was witnessed by NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng.
Raising income ceiling for Child Support Services
NFC also announced on Monday that it will raise the income-ceiling eligibility for its Child Support Services from 1 January.
The new criteria will provide eligibility for households with a monthly income of S$4,500 or less (up from S$3,500 or less), or with a per capita monthly income of S$1,125 or less for households with five or more members (up from S$875 or less).
“Research has shown that investments in early childhood education contribute greatly to bridging the social divide, and NTUC First Campus is determined to play a leading role in making high quality pre-school education accessible to all Singapore families,” said Professor Tan Cheng Han, chairman of NFC.
“To this end, our expenditure on financial, developmental and social support programmes for low-income families and children with learning delays will increase to S$8.6 million in 2020, about a 26 per cent increase from 2019.”
The Singapore government had recently announced increase of subsidies for pre-school education that will take effect from January 2020. The new subsidised fees to be paid by low-income families will range from S$36 to S$360 a year.
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