Anchor operator vs partner operator preschool: fee caps and subsidies for 2026

You have your child's centre name in front of you, and you have heard that preschool fees are falling to S$150. Those are two different things. The fee cap your centre must keep to is set by its operator type; your subsidy is set by your main applicant's working hours and your household's means-tested income; and S$150 is a level announced for later, not a fee you can claim today. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Three checks will tell you where you stand: look your centre's name up on ECDA's scheme pages, identify which subsidy column your household falls into, and file the LifeSG form promptly after enrolment. Here is what each one says, and what August 2026 does and does not change. ^{[1] [4] [5]}

Which kind of centre is it, and how do I check?

Start with ECDA's two scheme pages, which name the operators and state the fee cap each type must keep to. The Anchor Operator Scheme began in 2009 and was enhanced in 2014, and ECDA's list names five anchor operators, including PCF Sparkletots Preschool, My First Skool and My World Preschool. In return for funding, anchor operators keep to a monthly fee cap of $610 for full-day child care, $1,235 for full-day infant care and $150 for kindergarten, excluding GST. ^[1]

Partner operators sit in a separate tier. ECDA's Partner Operator Scheme page states that the new five-year term runs to 31 December 2030, with 380 child care centres appointed under 33 commercial and not-for-profit operators, each required to keep to a monthly fee cap of $650 for full-day child care and $1,290 for full-day infant care for Singapore Citizen children. To classify your centre, look it up on those two pages or through the LifeSG Preschool Search. A fully private centre sits outside both schemes, and ECDA notes children in private kindergartens are not eligible for KiFAS subsidies. ^{[2] [6] [7]}

What you pay today, and which subsidy column fits

The subsidy side follows your household, not the operator's name. Every Singapore Citizen child in an ECDA-licensed infant or childcare centre is eligible for a Basic Subsidy. An Additional Subsidy requires the main applicant to be working at the point of application, with gross monthly household income of $12,000 or below, or per capita income of $3,000 or below for larger households. Working means at least 56 hours a month, including part-time and freelance work. In a full-day childcare programme, a working main applicant receives a $300 basic subsidy plus up to $467 additional; a non-working main applicant receives $150 basic. ^[4]

Here is ECDA's own worked example, which shows why income tier matters. A working mother with gross monthly household income of $3,000 and below in a full-day childcare programme receives the $300 basic subsidy and an additional subsidy of $467, totalling $767. If the programme fee is $740, the family still does not pay nothing: the $3 minimum co-payment for that income tier applies, so the subsidy is $737. ECDA notes the minimum co-payment rises progressively as household or per capita income rises, so the $3 figure belongs to the lowest tier rather than to every household. ^[4]

Two rules are worth knowing. Since 9 December 2024, a household with gross monthly income of $6,000 or below, or per capita income of $1,500 or below, in a childcare programme qualifies for full childcare subsidies regardless of the main applicant's working status, until the next fixed point of assessment. Claiming takes one step: the preschool triggers the LifeSG subsidy form on or after your child's first day, and you and your spouse must complete it within 14 calendar days. ^{[4] [5]}

What the August 2026 announcements change

At the National Day Rally on 23 August 2026, the Prime Minister announced that monthly fees for full-day childcare and infant care will fall to S$150 and S$300 respectively by 2030. CNA reported that these lower fees, before means testing, will apply to every Singaporean child regardless of household income, with lower-income families paying even less. The announcement as reported does not set out the year in which those levels begin, so treat them as a direction of travel, not a figure to budget against next year. ^[3]

For scale, CNA reported that full-day childcare at government-supported preschools currently costs S$365 to S$559 a month after basic subsidies, while infant care costs S$746 to S$1,256. Separately, in a March 2025 Committee of Supply speech, Minister of State Sun Xueling said ECDA would work with Anchor Operators to add almost 40,000 full-day preschool places from 2025 to 2029, about 6,000 of them for infants. ^{[3] [8]}

The new grant sits on the operator side

ECDA's factsheet of 28 August 2026 describes a new grant to help eligible preschool operators that wish to transition onto the government-supported network, so that a broader range of operators, including smaller ones, can benefit from Government support. ECDA stated that the details of the grant are still being worked through and that more details will be shared later this year. ^[9]

So: identify your centre's operator type on ECDA's AOP and POP pages, read the fee cap that type must keep to, then apply the subsidy column matching your main applicant's hours and your household income. Treat S$150 and S$300 as a by-2030 announcement for government-supported preschools, and the new grant as an operator transition measure. Ask your centre for its fee in writing; for scheme queries, contact ECDA on 1800-111-2222. ^{[1] [2] [3] [9] [4]}

Sources

EduNanny Editorial · AI-assisted research and writing, reviewed by our automated editorial team. Sources checked 2026-10-05. Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration.