From the link:
Dear all,
I am one of the parents affected by the recent sharp increase in pre-school fees
I have previously written to the ministers about this issue but have received any response because I am a single voice.
But I believe that as a group, our voices will be heard. I am writing a petition to the ministers to regulate the pre-school fees. If you are a Singapore parent and have been affected by the school fees hikes and want to support this petition. Please send a short message "I would like to support the petition to regulate pre-school fees" with your name and email. I will consolidate your details when sending to the ministers. Please share this with your friends and ask them to write to me at [email protected]
The deadline for sending out this petition will be 30 June 2012.
Regards,
James
The draft petition is attached:
Minister of Education, Mr Heng Swee Keat
Minister of State Education, Mr Lawrence Wong
Acting Minister of Community Development, Youth & Sports, Mr Chan Chun Sing
Petition to regulate fees for pre-schools given rampant fees increases
Dear Mr Heng/Mr Wong/Mr Chan,
I am writing to you on behalf of [X] Singaporean families to petition to you to regulate the school fees for pre-schools. Many Singaporean families are affected by incessant fee hikes by the pre-schools which are putting a strain on the financial resources on some families.
Increasing the fee subsidy will not help because these pre-schools will just increase the school fees correspondingly and the parents will not benefit from the subsidy. The other obvious solution is to ask parents to consider cheaper options, however there is an increasing trend where pre-schools are benchmarking their fees to each other and essentially all the pre-schools in the same area are charging the same fees leaving parents with little options. In addition, there has been a consolidation in the market where groups like Knowledge Universe have been acquiring various pre-school chains in Singapore and setting benchmark prices leading to overall increase of fees in the market. If left unchecked, I shudder to think what parents will have to pay for private pre-school education in a few years.
As an example, my child attends Brighton Montessori International and within a short span of 2 years from Nursery 2 to Kindergarten 2, fees have increased from $850 in 2010 to $1,275 in 2012 before MCYS subsidy and GST for just half-day lessons. This represents an increase of $425 in 2 years or a 50% increase within a short span of 2 years despite a lower teacher student ratio in K2 compared to N2.
The school had increased school fees by more than $100 each time in Apr 2010, May 2011 and has again increased the fee in April 2012. Each time the school will cite higher cost of operations as reasons for fee increases. Whilst I understand that costs have increased, I am doubtful that it has increased by so much and I believe that there is a high element of profiteering and exploitation. We understand that Brighton is highly profitable and believe that the acquisition by Knowledge Universe had led to further school fee hikes.
The government cannot continue to rely on free market forces argument and let pre-schools freely increase the fees every year without justification. If the government can regulate private property prices, I do not understand why it cannot regulate private pre-school fees. Expenditure on property and education are probably the 2 largest expenditure items for middle income families in Singapore, many middle income families are hurting from the rise of property prices and the education costs. Please do not just focus on helping certain segments of the population, the middle income families are a large part of the Singapore demographics and are crying out for help.
I would like to suggest the following recommendations.
1. Form a price approval committee/team within MCYS – The team should be tasked to approve fee increases above 5% per annum or inflation rate whichever is higher. Schools will need to justify to the team why it should increase the fees by more than 5% per annum or the inflation rate.
2. Fee increase only once every 2 years – The fees should not be increased every year. The business is relatively predictable once the capacity reaches a certain state, the company can easily forecast rental and salaries increases for 2 years. There is no necessity to increase every single year, these schools that increase fees every years are just exploiting the parents.
3. Benchmarking fee caps to direct costs of the operator – Pre-schools should be able to charge a fee linked to its 2 largest direct operating costs, rental and direct staff costs. Consumers don’t mind paying more if the fees are genuinely for highly qualified teachers or if the schools are located in prime locations. For example, if the direct cost per student is $500, perhaps the school can charge up to 2x of $500 as the fee cap. The schools need to prove that they are paying teachers higher wages or that their rental costs have increased.
4. Approve further acquisitions of pre-school chains – Knowledge Universe has acquired Learning Vision, Brighton, Odyssey and Pat’s Schoolhouse in the past few years. If left unchecked, groups like Knowledge Universe will end up cornering certain segments of the market.
Some parents would hope to be able to consult with the relevant Minister on this matter and take the discussion forward. We look forward to your response.
Regards,
James Tan
Dear all,
I am one of the parents affected by the recent sharp increase in pre-school fees
I have previously written to the ministers about this issue but have received any response because I am a single voice.
But I believe that as a group, our voices will be heard. I am writing a petition to the ministers to regulate the pre-school fees. If you are a Singapore parent and have been affected by the school fees hikes and want to support this petition. Please send a short message "I would like to support the petition to regulate pre-school fees" with your name and email. I will consolidate your details when sending to the ministers. Please share this with your friends and ask them to write to me at [email protected]
The deadline for sending out this petition will be 30 June 2012.
Regards,
James
The draft petition is attached:
Minister of Education, Mr Heng Swee Keat
Minister of State Education, Mr Lawrence Wong
Acting Minister of Community Development, Youth & Sports, Mr Chan Chun Sing
Petition to regulate fees for pre-schools given rampant fees increases
Dear Mr Heng/Mr Wong/Mr Chan,
I am writing to you on behalf of [X] Singaporean families to petition to you to regulate the school fees for pre-schools. Many Singaporean families are affected by incessant fee hikes by the pre-schools which are putting a strain on the financial resources on some families.
Increasing the fee subsidy will not help because these pre-schools will just increase the school fees correspondingly and the parents will not benefit from the subsidy. The other obvious solution is to ask parents to consider cheaper options, however there is an increasing trend where pre-schools are benchmarking their fees to each other and essentially all the pre-schools in the same area are charging the same fees leaving parents with little options. In addition, there has been a consolidation in the market where groups like Knowledge Universe have been acquiring various pre-school chains in Singapore and setting benchmark prices leading to overall increase of fees in the market. If left unchecked, I shudder to think what parents will have to pay for private pre-school education in a few years.
As an example, my child attends Brighton Montessori International and within a short span of 2 years from Nursery 2 to Kindergarten 2, fees have increased from $850 in 2010 to $1,275 in 2012 before MCYS subsidy and GST for just half-day lessons. This represents an increase of $425 in 2 years or a 50% increase within a short span of 2 years despite a lower teacher student ratio in K2 compared to N2.
The school had increased school fees by more than $100 each time in Apr 2010, May 2011 and has again increased the fee in April 2012. Each time the school will cite higher cost of operations as reasons for fee increases. Whilst I understand that costs have increased, I am doubtful that it has increased by so much and I believe that there is a high element of profiteering and exploitation. We understand that Brighton is highly profitable and believe that the acquisition by Knowledge Universe had led to further school fee hikes.
The government cannot continue to rely on free market forces argument and let pre-schools freely increase the fees every year without justification. If the government can regulate private property prices, I do not understand why it cannot regulate private pre-school fees. Expenditure on property and education are probably the 2 largest expenditure items for middle income families in Singapore, many middle income families are hurting from the rise of property prices and the education costs. Please do not just focus on helping certain segments of the population, the middle income families are a large part of the Singapore demographics and are crying out for help.
I would like to suggest the following recommendations.
1. Form a price approval committee/team within MCYS – The team should be tasked to approve fee increases above 5% per annum or inflation rate whichever is higher. Schools will need to justify to the team why it should increase the fees by more than 5% per annum or the inflation rate.
2. Fee increase only once every 2 years – The fees should not be increased every year. The business is relatively predictable once the capacity reaches a certain state, the company can easily forecast rental and salaries increases for 2 years. There is no necessity to increase every single year, these schools that increase fees every years are just exploiting the parents.
3. Benchmarking fee caps to direct costs of the operator – Pre-schools should be able to charge a fee linked to its 2 largest direct operating costs, rental and direct staff costs. Consumers don’t mind paying more if the fees are genuinely for highly qualified teachers or if the schools are located in prime locations. For example, if the direct cost per student is $500, perhaps the school can charge up to 2x of $500 as the fee cap. The schools need to prove that they are paying teachers higher wages or that their rental costs have increased.
4. Approve further acquisitions of pre-school chains – Knowledge Universe has acquired Learning Vision, Brighton, Odyssey and Pat’s Schoolhouse in the past few years. If left unchecked, groups like Knowledge Universe will end up cornering certain segments of the market.
Some parents would hope to be able to consult with the relevant Minister on this matter and take the discussion forward. We look forward to your response.
Regards,
James Tan
