Some enrichment centres in Singapore hold fees steady despite rising operating costs

SINGAPORE: Enrichment centres in Singapore are grappling with rising operating costs, even as they see strong demand this holiday season.

Some centres told CNA that rather than passing these costs to parents, they are absorbing them, optimising resources and rolling out new ideas to keep fees steady amid tough competition.

Among such learning academies is the School of Robotics, which offers robotics and coding classes for students aged four to 16 in small class settings.  

At this time of the year, its three outlets are typically bustling with activities during holiday camps, led by Ministry of Education-registered instructors.

The centre recently debuted new programming and artificial intelligence-related courses, which have seen high demand among parents looking to enroll their children.

However, these additions have resulted in significantly higher material costs compared with two years ago, said centre manager Poon Wai Chung.

"There's been almost an increase of 30 per cent when it comes to buying the electronics, hardware, equipment that's required for the classes,” he told CNA.

On a more positive note, he added, the school’s landlord has kept rental prices largely steady.

Despite the rising costs, the School of Robotics has kept its fees unchanged from last year. Shorter courses cost about S$200 a day, dropping to S$140 per day for sign-ups of 10 days or more.

“We try to still make an effort to maintain the prices to be more competitive, so we didn't increase quite a lot … for our parents,” Mr Poon noted.

"We go on the government schemes, (such as) the Large Families Scheme … so that when (parents) sign up for more (courses), we try to give them the more reduced rate prices,” he added, referring to the government’s initiative to provide more support for couples with three or more children.

MANPOWER, RENTAL PRICE JUMPS

Over at Newtonshow, which runs holiday science camps for around 2,000 children across six locations, operating costs have risen by about 10 per cent this year.

The increases span manpower, rental, materials, curriculum development, transportation and safety operations.

“We have focused on optimising operations rather than making aggressive price increases,” said programme director Angela Yao.

“However, we also continue to maintain small class sizes, highly trained teachers, SCDF (Singapore Civil Defence Force)-approved venues, healthy meals and bus services to kids at all times. Additional safety training for children and staff also has been implemented,” she added.

During the current school holiday season, demand for courses like outdoor science and maker robotics have risen by up to 50 per cent, said Ms Yao.

One strategy that Newtonshow has employed to attract sign-ups is to create new themed concepts based on popular cartoons and movies.

"One way we optimise costs is through focusing on the resources that we already have … to create new and fun ways for the kids to enjoy during the activities at camp," Ms Yao added.

Newtonshow is also looking to expand its programmes across more locations, allowing the centre to spread out costs while meeting growing demand.

As the holiday season continues, enrichment providers say innovation and resourcefulness will be key to keeping programmes affordable for families.