Bold reality: preschool attendance among lower-income families is a daily struggle shaped by pain, logistics, and limited support—and money alone isn’t solving it.
SINGAPORE: Madam Sri glanced at her watch, which she had set 15 minutes fast, and rushed through her morning routine with her children in tow.
It was a school holiday, so her older primary-school-aged children were with her as she ran errands. Despite the chaos, she called it a “good day” because her preschoolers managed to arrive on time. On most days, just getting out the door of her rented Housing and Development Board flat feels like a grueling test.
The 38-year-old mother is unemployed and lives with a herniated disc and bone spurs. The pain can be so intense that even a short 10-minute walk to school feels impossible.
“Every day I wake up in pain,” she told CNA. “Every day I ask myself — can I really send them to school today?”
Some nights, painkillers knock her out so deeply that she oversleeps, said the homemaker who asked to be identified only by her first name.
The children end up missing school. When one child falls ill—as they often do—the routine unravels.
In June and July, Sri’s two preschool-age children were absentees for nearly half the month due to sickness, causing their attendance for the second quarter to dip below the 75% threshold required to receive financial incentives under ComLink+. This national scheme, launched in 2024 by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), aims to uplift lower-income families.
Under ComLink+, eligible families receive a one-off CDA top-up of S$500 when a child enrolls in preschool in the year they turn three, plus S$200 for every quarter if they attend preschool regularly. The funds in the CDA account can be used for education, medical expenses, and other essentials like supplements.
By the end of 2024, corporate organizations supported more than 500 ComLink+ programmes and activities, contributing S$37 million (US$28.7 million) in donations and other forms of support such as groceries, family outings, and digital literacy programs.
At the close of 2024, 10,219 families joined the ComLink+ scheme. Families are paired with dedicated family coaches who help tailor action plans and motivate them toward their goals, among other supports.
The MSF report shows gains: the number of ComLink+ families with preschool-enrolled, vaccinated, and regularly attending children rose from 405 in 2023 to 712 in 2024, a rise attributed partly to changes in data collection that captured more preschools.
However, the report also reveals ongoing challenges: 46% of ComLink+ families in 2024, or 1,593 households, had children enrolled in preschool and vaccinated but not attending regularly. There were 1,158 families in the program whose preschool-aged children were neither enrolled nor vaccinated in 2024.
Overall, these figures underscore that preschool attendance remains a hurdle for many low-income families.
Social workers interviewed by CNA describe the barriers as layered and highly individualized—no two families share the exact same circumstances. Common factors include long distances to school, irregular work hours, and limited caregiving support, with these challenges often intersecting.
Is financial motivation enough?
