LifeSG's new feature makes pre-school search easier

Parents can soon apply more quickly for subsidies on app too

- Elisha Tushara

Parents of young children can now locate pre-schools more easily with a new search feature on government mobile app LifeSG, which will allow them to shortlist centres within 2km of their homes.

From end-2024, parents will also be able to apply for pre-school subsidies on the same app, reducing the time spent on such applications that are currently done manually via lengthy hard copy or electronic forms.

Previously, parents would use the Early Childhood Development Agency's (ECDA) Pre-school Search Portal to indicate their interest in up to 10 pre-schools of their choice. The pre-schools would then either contact parents to offer enrolment or place them on a wait list if the centre was full.

The online portal was discontinued on Jan 15.

Hosted on LifeSG, the new preschool search feature allows parents to search among more than 1,900 pre-schools that are licensed and registered with ECDA, including kindergartens run by the Ministry of Education.

Apart from being able to set a default search radius of 2km from their home, workplace or caregiver's home, parents can also filter results according to pre-school level, vacancies, fees, mother tongue language availability, food and provision of transport.

The contact details of the shortlisted pre-schools will be provided in the search results so that parents can liaise with them directly, instead of waiting for the pre-schools to contact them.