PCF Sparkletots to double staff development spending to $20m

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s largest pre-school operator will double its investment in staff development to $20 million over the next three years, and from 2027, will offer Chinese, Malay and Tamil in all its pre-schools where there is demand.

The PAP Community Foundation (PCF) will also introduce an enhanced centralised model to reduce administrative work across its PCF Sparkletots pre-schools, allowing educators to focus more on children and teaching.

These were among the initiatives PCF announced on Oct 11 at a family day event at Mandai Wildlife Reserve to mark its 40th anniversary.

Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, the guest of honour at the event, said PCF has supported more than a million children, served about 30,000 seniors and empowered around 46,000 vulnerable beneficiaries over the past 40 years.

It currently operates close to 350 pre-school centres and is also the Republic’s third-largest senior care provider, with 11 senior care centres and nine active ageing centres.

At the event, PCF Council of Management chairwoman Josephine Teo said PCF is doubling its investment in staff development, noting that good teachers make an enormous difference to children’s learning.

“Parents place their trust in PCF Sparkletots during their children’s formative years. We therefore believe in giving all children, regardless of background, a strong start in pre-school and helping them grow with confidence,” said Teo, who is also Minister for Digital Development and Information. 

“To do this well, we must develop our teachers and help them be more effective.”

The investment by PCF Sparkletots Preschool will support the training and development of around 8,000 educators and 500 leaders, guided by three road maps covering professional skills, leadership and digital literacy. 

Besides giving more children the opportunity to build a foundation in their mother tongue, PCF Sparkletots will also share an internally developed checklist of classroom practices with the wider sector to help other pre-school operators support children with diverse learning needs. 

PCF Sparkletots chief operating officer Marini Khamis said the checklist will include practices such as combining speech with gestures or visuals to support children’s understanding and communication, using emotion charts to help children recognise and express feelings, and providing visual schedules to help them prepare for changes in routines.

Teo said PCF Sparkletots will continue to share mother tongue resources with other operators so that their children and educators can also benefit. These include its heritage series of resources titled Let’s Set Off!, which was developed by language specialists and made available at public libraries.

In his speech, Gan noted that PCF’s announcements come after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in his National Day Rally speech in August that the Government would provide further support for families.

The measures include a significant expansion of the network of government-supported pre-schools and a reduction in monthly full-day childcare fees at such pre-schools to $150. Infant care fees will also be reduced to $300, with the fee cuts to be progressively rolled out from 2028.

Alongside this financial support, families need educators and care professionals who understand their children and work closely with them, said Gan, who was previously chairman of the PCF Council.

Currently, PCF Sparkletots’ centre teams manage various operational and administrative tasks alongside their educational and leadership responsibilities.

Under the enhanced centralised model, centres will receive greater support from specialist teams for selected functions, such as handling parent and enrolment-related inquiries and transactions.

Examples of tasks that specialist teams will take over include handling uniform purchase inquiries and arranging centre tours for prospective parents, Khamis said.

The centralised support model has been rolled out since 2026 and will cover about 80% of PCF Sparkletots’ centres by the first quarter of 2027.

Seven-year-old Skyler Lee, who has global developmental delay, is among the children who have benefited from having additional learning support at PCF Sparkletots.

His mother Sabrina Wong said sessions she attended at the centre with an early intervention educator had taught her strategies to help her son.

Now in Primary 1 at Peiying Primary School, Skyler practises for his spelling tests through songs Wong comes up with to keep him engaged.

“He also learnt how to communicate with people and better express his needs (and) has adapted quite well to primary school,” she said.

Strengthening senior support

PCF also said it is expanding its eldercare services, with its Sparkle Care arm set to meet its target of 25 senior care centres and active ageing centres by the end of 2027.

This includes a new active ageing centre at Serangoon Polyclinic, which will open in the first half of 2027, in partnership with the Home Nursing Foundation. Spanning more than 20,000 sq ft, the centre will give seniors in the vicinity greater access to care and wellness services.

Noting that Singapore became a super-aged society in 2026 – with one in five citizens aged 65 and above – Teo said PCF has been growing its network of eldercare centres to encourage more seniors to take part in activities that help them age well.

Besides providing an avenue for seniors to stay connected, the centres also provide more volunteering opportunities for the elderly who are active, she added.

“As we look forward to our next chapter, PCF will continue to nurture young minds, promote active ageing and support families,” she said.