Christian preschools in Singapore are shutting down. Will we act before it’s too late?

More than one-third of Christian preschools in Singapore has disappeared in just six years. 

In 2020, we had 150 Christian preschools. Today, we have 102. By the end of 2026, we know with a high degree of certainty that only 97 will remain – possibly fewer.

I find myself asking: Does the Christian community still see the need for Christian preschools? If we do, why have we allowed this to happen? If we do not, perhaps we should be honest. Do we still want Christian preschools to continue? 

We say that children matter. We speak about the next generation, discipleship, Christian education and passing on the faith.

But do Christian preschools really matter to us?

A call to greater unity 

The recent General Household Survey told us that the percentage of Protestants in Singapore has fallen from 11.9% in 2020 to 9.5% in 2025. The State of the Church Survey told us that our churches are ageing, while the proportion of young believers is falling.

I know having Christian preschools will not solve everything. But surely the early years matter. Surely the formation of a child matters. Surely the presence of Christian teachers, Christian values and a Christian community matters.

I also know the reasons given for the closures of Christian preschools. There are fewer children. Costs and rentals have risen. It is difficult to find and retain teachers. Government-supported operators have greater resources. Parents need affordable and convenient options. These pressures are real, and it would be unfair to ignore them.

Christian preschools are not the only ones struggling. The Straits Times reported that an average of 70 preschools closed each year from 2023 to 2025. This is clearly a sector-wide problem.

But should we put all the blame on government policies and external forces? Perhaps we need to take a hard look at ourselves too.

What might it look like for Christians to work more closely together? How might churches and organisations move beyond protecting their own names, structures, resources and spaces, and instead find ways to share what God has entrusted to them?

Could churches with extra space on weekdays help Christian preschools that are struggling to find a home? Could larger preschool operators come alongside smaller ones to share the burden of administration, training, compliance, technology and curriculum development?

How might we become more willing to share?

Let’s act while there’s still time

It is easy to spend our energy focusing on our differences. We debate names, methods, structures, ownership and who should receive the credit. But could these smaller issues be distracting us from the more urgent challenge?

We can win every small argument and still lose an entire generation of Christian preschools. We can protect our individual positions and still watch the larger Christian presence disappear. We can be right about the minor issues and completely fail to respond to the major crisis. 

Are we giving enough attention to what is at stake?  

There will never be a perfect structure, a perfect operator or a perfect plan. But while we wait for everything to be right, our Christian preschools are shuttering.

We have talked about collaboration. We have attended meetings. We have agreed that something should be done. Perhaps the next step is to move from conversation to action.

Who might be willing to share a building? Who would contribute funding, people and expertise? Where might we be able to release some control for the sake of a greater shared purpose? How might we put the future of our children ahead of our individual interests?

Perhaps what we need is not another report, meeting or committee. Perhaps what we need is a shared conviction that our Christian preschools really matter.

We need to come to this conviction soon, before we lose our educators and the experience and institutional knowledge they have accumulated over decades.

One day, there may be little left to rebuild.

Before it’s too late

Is it already too late? 

I hope it is not. There is still time to respond, but something has to change.

This is not only a preschool issue. It is also a spiritual issue that invites us to reflect on our priorities, our stewardship and how we carry one another’s burdens.

Perhaps we have not always cherished what God has placed in our hands. Perhaps we have assumed that Christian preschools would always be there. Perhaps this decline is an opportunity for us to take notice of what we can do differently.

So this is not a strategy paper. It is a cry. 

Lord, have mercy on us. Forgive us for our indifference. Forgive us for protecting our own work while the wider work is crumbling. Forgive us for saying that children matter while leaving others to carry the burden alone. Forgive us for waiting so long. 

Wake us up. Bring us together. Give us the humility to let go, the courage to act and the love to put our children before ourselves.  

Lord, please do not let it be too late. 

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