Child Care Centres (CCCs) provide full day and half-day care programmes to children below the age of 7 years. Some centres provide infant care services to children aged 2 months to 18 months.
In addition to providing working parents with reliable care services, CCCs have programmes aimed at educating and developing pre-school children through effective early childhood education programmes in a safe and conducive environment.
The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) licenses child care centres according to the standards stipulated in the Child Care Centres Act and Regulations.
Operating Hours
Child care centres are required to observe the following operating hours:
Monday – Friday : no later than 7 am / no earlier than 7.00 pm
Saturday : no later than 7 am / no earlier than 2.00 pm
Child care centres are closed on:
- Sundays and gazetted public holidays
- half-day on the eves of any 3 public holidays
- another 6 days in a year, of which at least 2½ days are for staff training and development
Programmes
Child care centres provide half-day and full-day care programmes to meet the diverse needs of working parents. Some centres also provide flexible care programmes and emergency care services, and even before-and-after school care programmes for children up to the age of 14.
Looking for Child Care Centre?
You can find out more about centre-based care or see who are ECDA's Anchor Operators and Partner Operators here.
Contact Us
Should you have any enquiries or feedback on child care centres, please contact us at 6735-9213 or click here to email us or visit us at
Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA)
51 Cuppage Road
#08-01
Singapore 229469
Centre-based Infant and Child Care Subsidies
All parents with Singapore Citizen children enrolled in child care centres licensed by ECDA will continue to be eligible for a Basic Subsidy.
In addition, families with monthly household incomes of $7,500 and below are now eligible for an Additional Subsidy, with lower income families receiving more. Larger families with many dependents can also choose to have their Additional Subsidy computed on a per capita income (PCI) basis.
For more information, please visit
ECDA's website.
Children Development Co-Savings (Baby Bonus) Scheme
The Baby Bonus Child Development Account (CDA) is a co-savings scheme for children, where savings deposited by parents into a special savings account called the CDA are matched dollar-for-dollar by the Government, up to a specified ceiling.
CDA savings funds can be used for child development needs at Approved Institutions registered with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). Approved uses of CDA funds include the following:
- Fees for child care centres, kindergartens, special education schools and early intervention programmes
- Medical expenses at healthcare institutions such as hospitals and GP clinics
- Premiums for MediShield or Medisave-approved private integrated plans
- Assistive devices
- Eye-related products and services at optical shops
- Approved healthcare items at pharmacies
For more information, visit the Hey Baby website or the Baby Bonus Website.
Thinking of operating a Child Care Centre?
Running a child care centre can be a challenging experience. Here is some useful information to assist you in setting up a child care centre.
Useful links
Care and Learn
Parents, grandparents, baby sitters and maids can now attend short training sessions on early childhood care and development. The sessions include hand-on activities, observation and interactive workshops in English, Mandarin, Malay or Tamil languages.
Course Contents
- Principles of Child Development
- Caregiving Skills
- Safety, Health, Hygiene and Nutrition
- Learning through Play
- Child Care Practices
- Community Resources and Networking
Training Objectives
- To enable caregivers to make age-appropriate choices and decisions when caring for young children
- To empower caregivers with more skills and knowledge on the needs of children
- To develop stronger bonding between caregivers and children
- To allow caregivers to know more about quality care
Please contact the following providers for course details and ECDA’s special course fee funding:
Association for the Early Childhood Educators, Singapore (AECES)
Tel: 6281 4989
http://www.aeces.org
Advent Links – SAUC
Tel: 6254 9246
http://www.alsauc.edu.sg