In this guide · 8 sections
- 01ECDA licensing rules that affect your website
- 02Fees and subsidies: wording that stays accurate
- 03School tour booking and enquiry forms
- 04Waitlist forms: no child NRIC or birth certificate upfront
- 05Children's photos and videos on your website
- 06Privacy policy, CCTV notice and data on the website
- 07Do it yourself or get help?
- 08Frequently asked questions
Short answer
Show your ECDA licence and tenure, list fees clearly and link to ECDA's subsidy pages instead of promising amounts, let parents book a tour online, keep waitlist forms free of NRIC or birth certificate numbers, and publish children's photos only with parental consent.
ECDA licensing rules that affect your website
Preschools in Singapore are licensed by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) under the Early Childhood Development Centres Act 2017 and its 2018 Regulations. ECDA's guide to setting up a centre states that preschools must not advertise, start operations or accept payments without a valid licence. For a new centre, that means no public enrolment page, deposit link or paid ads before the licence is issued.
The Regulations also contain provisions on displaying licence information and on advertisements. Read them, or ask ECDA, before you launch a campaign or a new website.
| Licence tenure | What ECDA says it means |
|---|---|
| 36 months | Consistently meets regulatory requirements, good track record |
| 24 months | Has met most regulatory requirements |
| 6 or 12 months | Needs closer monitoring; new preschools get a default 12-month licence |
ECDA's parent guide to licences tells parents that every licensed preschool must display its licence where visitors can see it, and that tenure can be checked in the LifeSG app's Preschool Search. Parents will look, so show the same details on your 'About' page and keep the expiry date current after each renewal.
Fees and subsidies: wording that stays accurate
Fees are the most-read part of any preschool website, and the easiest place to make a mistake. Subsidy amounts depend on household income, the child's citizenship, the type of programme and the operator scheme, and ECDA reviews them.
- Show your gross monthly fee for each programme (full day, half day, infant care), with GST treatment stated, and the date it applies from.
- Show one-off fees separately: registration, deposit, uniforms, materials, and whether the deposit is refundable.
- Link to ECDA, do not calculate for parents. ECDA's preschool subsidies page explains that the Government provides subsidies for Singapore Citizen children in licensed infant and childcare centres and in Anchor Operator or MOE kindergartens, and that private kindergarten children are not eligible for KiFAS.
- If you show an 'after subsidy' example, label it as an example for one income band, with the date and a link to ECDA's calculator or scheme page.
For how parents then pay those fees each month, see our guide to collecting preschool fees by GIRO, PayNow or card.
School tour booking and enquiry forms
Most enrolments start with a tour. Letting parents pick a slot online, instead of phoning during working hours, removes the biggest drop-off point.
Set tour slots that match staffing
Pick fixed weekly slots when the principal or a senior teacher is free, with a cap per slot so tours do not disrupt classes.
Collect only what you need
Parent name, mobile, email, child's birth month and year, preferred programme and start date. Nothing else is needed to book a tour.
Send confirmation and a reminder
Automatic email or WhatsApp confirmation with the address, parking and what to bring, and a reminder the day before.
Follow up after the tour
A short message with the fee sheet and how to join the waitlist. Record the parent's consent to receive follow-ups.
Tuition and enrichment centres use a similar flow; our tuition centre website guide covers class booking and trial lessons.
Waitlist forms: no child NRIC or birth certificate upfront
Many waitlist forms copied from old enrolment paperwork ask for the child's birth certificate number. At the waitlist stage you do not need it. Under the PDPC's advisory guidelines on NRIC and other national identification numbers, organisations should collect these only when required by law or when needed to establish identity to a high degree of accuracy. Our guide to NRIC collection rules explains the details.
Waitlist form: ask for
- Parent name, mobile and email
- Child's first name and birth month/year
- Programme and intended start date
- Consent to contact about places
Leave for enrolment
- Child's birth certificate or NRIC number
- Full date of birth and address
- Parents' NRIC numbers, income or employment documents
- Medical and allergy details
At enrolment, the centre collects what is needed for the licence, the child's care and subsidy applications. That data needs stronger protection than a marketing list: restricted access, no forwarding to personal email and a retention period.
Children's photos and videos on your website
Photos of real classrooms persuade parents more than stock images, but children's images are personal data. The PDPC's Advisory Guidelines on the PDPA for Selected Topics state that where a minor is below 13 years of age, the organisation must obtain consent from the parent or guardian. The same guidelines say that if consent to publish a photo is withdrawn, the organisation must stop future publication.
Photo consent checklist
Daily sharing with parents through an app or chat group raises its own PDPA questions, covered in our guide to preschool parent apps and child photos.
Privacy policy, CCTV notice and data on the website
ECDA made CCTV cameras mandatory in all preschools from 1 July 2024, according to its CCTV FAQ for parents. The same page says footage shared with parents must be masked in line with the PDPA, and that preschools are not required to keep more than 30 days of footage. Your privacy policy should mention CCTV and how footage requests are handled.
Beyond that, the website needs a privacy policy that names your Data Protection Officer, covers enquiry and waitlist forms, and explains cookies and analytics. Our guide to website privacy policies and cookie consent has a template structure. This guide is general information, not legal advice; check ECDA's current requirements for your centre type.
Do it yourself or get help?
Website builders can produce a decent preschool site, and many operators manage their own. The parts that need care are the fee wording, the waitlist form fields and the photo consent records.
Our Business Website package (S$1,490) builds a preschool site with licence details, programme and fee pages and enquiry forms. Add an Online Booking System (S$390) for school tours, and the PDPA Compliance Pack (S$690) for your privacy policy, consent forms and DPO setup.
Frequently asked questions
No. ECDA states that preschools must not advertise, commence operations or accept monetary payments without holding a valid licence under the Early Childhood Development Centres Act and Regulations. Prepare the website in private, then publish enrolment pages, ads and payment links only after the licence is issued.
ECDA requires licensed preschools to display their licence where visitors can easily see it at the centre, and parents can check tenure in the LifeSG app. Showing the same details on your website is good practice and builds trust, provided you update it whenever the licence is renewed.
It is better not to. A waitlist only needs parent contact details, the child's birth month and year and the programme. Under PDPC guidance, national identification numbers should be collected only when required by law or needed to verify identity to a high degree, which applies at enrolment, not at the waitlist stage.
Yes. PDPC guidance says that for a minor under 13, consent must come from a parent or guardian. Ask for marketing photo consent separately from enrolment, keep a record of it, and stop publishing a photo if a parent withdraws consent. Photos where children cannot be identified reduce the risk further.
Show the gross fee clearly and link to ECDA's subsidy pages. Subsidies depend on household income, citizenship and the type of centre, so any 'after subsidy' figure is only an example. If you include one, label the income band and date and avoid wording that reads like a promise.