Does Partner or Anchor Operator Status Raise or Lower Preschool Value?

What are the Anchor Operator and Partner Operator schemes?

Both are ECDA funding schemes: selected operators receive funding to keep fees within a monthly cap and to invest in quality and staff development. The Anchor Operator Scheme (AOP) covers five large operators. The Partner Operator Scheme (POP) covers a wider group of commercial and not-for-profit operators.

ECDA says POP supports appointed centres to improve the accessibility, affordability and quality of childcare and infant care. It began in 2016 and ran a second term from 2021 to 2025. The current five-year term runs from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030. For this term ECDA appointed 380 childcare centres run by 33 commercial and not-for-profit operators. MSF's announcement in October 2025 said that was 49 more centres than the previous term, with five operators new to the scheme.

AOP started in 2009 and was enhanced in 2014. ECDA says it gives funding support to selected operators to make good quality, affordable early childhood care and education more accessible, especially for children from lower-income or disadvantaged backgrounds.

What does POP status change in a centre's finances?

It caps what the centre can charge Singapore Citizen families for full-day childcare and infant care, and in return the operator receives ECDA funding whose amounts are not published.

The full-day childcare cap fell from $680 to $650 a month on 1 January 2026, according to MSF. ECDA's FAQ on POP funding says that "specific information including funding will only be shared with shortlisted Operators". So nobody outside the scheme, including a prospective buyer, can work out a centre's funding from public sources. It has to come from the seller's own documents.

A POP centre's income therefore has two parts: fees, which are capped for Singapore Citizen children, and ECDA funding, which depends on the operator staying in the scheme. ECDA's POP page states the caps for Singapore Citizen children only, so a buyer should look at the centre's mix of children and its fee schedule for each group.

Fee changes are slow for every licensed centre, POP or not. Section 9.2.1 of ECDA's Code of Practice for Operators requires licensees to tell the Chief Licensing Officer (CLO) and affected parents in writing of any increase in registration fee, deposit or programme fees no later than 1 September of the year before the increase takes effect. A buyer who plans to change fees cannot do it quickly.

Does POP status raise or lower a preschool's value?

Neither automatically. ECDA publishes nothing on valuation, and POP status changes the make-up and risk of a centre's earnings rather than adding or taking away a fixed amount.

Buyers price a childcare centre on the earnings they expect to keep after completion and how confident they are in them. Our guide to how much a childcare centre can sell for covers the method. POP status touches both parts of that judgement.

A sensible approach is to model the centre two ways: with POP status and funding as they are today, and without them. The gap between the two shows how much of the price depends on something only ECDA can confirm. In the normalised accounts, show the funding as its own line rather than netting it off costs, so a buyer can see it and judge it separately from the fee income.

Does POP status and funding continue when a centre changes hands?

ECDA's published material does not say, so treat it as unknown until ECDA confirms the position in writing for your deal.

We checked ECDA's POP page (last updated 14 July 2026), ECDA's published FAQs on the scheme, MSF's announcement of the 2026 to 2030 term and the 5th edition of the Code of Practice for Operators. None of them says whether POP status or funding continues after a share sale or a transfer of licence.

What ECDA does say explains why the question matters. Its FAQ says it "evaluated operators and centres" on track record, financial sustainability, accessibility of centres and local demand. Appointment was assessed at both levels, so a change in who runs a centre may be relevant to ECDA. Its FAQs also say there is currently no open application window for POP, so a centre that lost status could not simply apply again.

The asset sale route has a timing trap. Under s3.3.7 and s3.3.8 the buyer starts with the centre's existing fee structure and can only change it after the transfer, within the notice rules. If POP funding did not carry over, the buyer would still be running a centre priced at capped fees until a fee change could take effect. Our guides to the ECDA transfer of licence and the KAH change in a share sale cover the licence steps.

Can you buy an Anchor Operator centre?

ECDA describes AOP funding as going to selected operators and lists five of them. It publishes no process for selling individual AOP centres.

The five anchor operators are led by large organisations, such as the PAP Community Foundation and NTUC First Campus. If a centre is described to you as AOP, check it against ECDA's list and ask ECDA what would happen to its funding before spending money on due diligence. ECDA's AOP page gives sector_funding@ecda.gov.sg as the contact.

What should sellers and buyers of a POP centre do before signing?

Settle the POP question before the Sale and Purchase Agreement is signed, not after.

• Confirm the centre is on ECDA's published list of POP centres for the 2026 to 2030 term.
• Seller: gather the documents that set out your POP funding and conditions, and the funding received in recent years, so a buyer can verify it after signing an NDA.
• Agree who will approach ECDA, and get a written answer on whether status and funding continue under the proposed deal structure. ECDA's POP page gives contact@ecda.gov.sg for enquiries.
• Value the centre with and without POP status, and agree what happens to the price if ECDA's answer is unfavourable.
• Make ECDA's confirmation a condition of completion. Our guide to key clauses in a sale and purchase agreement covers conditions precedent.
• Map the ECDA notice periods (1 month for a KAH change, 3 months for a licence transfer) and the 1 September fee notice date against the target completion date.

How Edugrow helps

Edugrow has advised on 70+ education business transactions since 2014. On a POP centre we raise scheme status at the first meeting, ask the seller for the scheme documents early, and build ECDA's confirmation into the deal timetable and the Sale and Purchase Agreement, so neither side signs on an assumption. Buyers only see the figures after signing an NDA. If you own a POP centre and want to know how buyers are likely to view it, start with a written valuation. If you want to buy, register as a buyer.