Ensuring Student Care Centre Services Remain Affordable and Accessible for Lower- and Middle-income Families
Ministry of Social and Family DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Ms Mariam Jaafar’s inquiry on measures to ensure student care centre (SCC) services remain affordable and accessible for lower- and middle-income families. Minister Masagos Zulkifli B M M highlighted the Student Care Fee Assistance (SCFA) scheme, which enables eligible families to pay as little as $5 monthly. He announced that the SCFA monthly household income threshold will increase from $4,500 to $6,500 following Budget 2026, with over 330 centres currently administering these subsidies. Regarding accessibility, most schools have sufficient capacity, and the Minister noted that students on waitlists currently have alternative care arrangements. The Ministry is also conducting a sector-wide review to determine if additional measures are required to better meet the caregiving needs of families.
Transcript
85 Ms Mariam Jaafar asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry has implemented measures to ensure that student care centre services, including those provided by private student care centres, remain affordable and accessible for lower- and middle-income families, particularly in areas where school-based student care demand exceeds available places; and (b) if so, what these measures are.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Children from lower- and lower-middle income families can benefit from the Student Care Fee Assistance scheme (SCFA). After subsidies, families can pay as little as $5 per month for their child to attend student care. All school-based Student Care Centres (SCCs) are required to administer the SCFA. Centres which operate outside of schools, including commercially run centres, can choose to make the SCFA available to their students. Currently, there are over 330 SCFA administrators.
As announced at Budget 2026, the Ministry of Social and Family Development will be raising the monthly household income threshold for the SCFA from $4,500 to $6,500 and updating the income tiers.
As the Ministry of Education (MOE) shared with this House in March 2026, most schools have sufficient capacity to meet the demand for student care. There are a small number of children known to MOE to be on a waitlist of a school-based SCC, but they all have current alternative care arrangements. This is similarly observed for non-school based centres that administer the SCFA.
As part of the ongoing review of the student care sector announced at Budget 2026, we will study if further affordability and accessibility measures are needed to better meet the caregiving needs of families with primary school-aged children.