Can you use the baby bonus to pay for our programmes?
No you can’t. The reason is that our teachers are diploma holders and degree holders specilaizing in their field of expertise ( Math, Science etc. ) Our curriculum requires experts in these areas so that they can effectively motivate the children in these subjects having the full range of capabilities. However, child care centres and kindergarten require only a minimum of a early childhood certification and /or a diploma in early childhood which do not meet our curriculum requirement but meets the requirement for baby bonus approved institutions. As a result of this conflict in the specialisation of teachers we maintain our curriculum standards rather than meet the baby bonus approved institution’s qualification. Hence we are unable to defray the cost using the baby bonus.
What will happen to my baby bonus if I don’t use it?
The Baby Bonus Scheme consists of two components - a cash gift and a Child Development Account. The CDA is a special savings account that you open at any OCBC Bank or Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited branch for your child who is eligible for CDA.
If a Singaporean is eligible for a Child Development Account (CDA) and has unspent balance in his CDA, a PSEA will be opened for him:
In the year he turns 7 years old for a child born between 2001 and 2005, or
In the year he turns 13 years old for a child born in or after 2006
You cannot close the Child Development Account (CDA) on your own. The CDA will be closed on 31 December of the year your child turns 12 years old. Thereafter, funds in the CDA will automatically be transferred to your child’s Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) under the Ministry of Education (MOE), subject to a cap.
MOE will automatically open a PSEA for each Singaporean who is between 7 and 20 years old, and send a letter to inform him of the top-up amount. PSEA will also be opened automatically for all who become Singapore citizens from 2008 to 2010 if they are between 7 and 20 years of age.
Children with Edusave accounts will have the balances transferred to PSEA when they are 16 years old or above and are not studying in a government or government-aided school, independent school, junior college or centralised institute or a Government-supported Special Education (SPED) schools. MOE will send a letter to inform the account-holder when the transfer is effected. The balance transfer for the first batch of Edusave accounts will be carried out in Apr 08.
What can the PSEA funds be used for?
From May 08, a child can use his PSEA funds to pay for his own or his siblings' approved fees and charges for approved programmes conducted by the institutions indicated in the table below.
So our advice is to decide wisely on the programmes you enrol your child. Don’t base your decision on whether the baby bonus can be used to defray the cost. Ultimately if it is not used for any of this programmes, it will end up in the CPF account. You can verify that with this link https://www.moe.gov.sg/financial-matters/psea If you do need any other information, feel free to contact us at the links below.
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