From making PSLE optional to treating child well-being as a goal in itself, here are the policy changes EveryChild.SG wants on the table at Sunday's National Day Rally.
EveryChild.SG will be watching Sunday’s National Day Rally with close attention. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has announced a “major review” of how Singapore supports families, in light of 2025’s record-low Total Fertility Rate. Sunday’s announcements may carry profound implications for children’s well-being, which happens to be the thing we care most about.
Nobody knows exactly what will be announced, but public conversations so far have centred on the cost of living, childcare availability and the need to increase (and, importantly, destigmatise) parental leave.
We would welcome progress on any of these fronts. But there are a few issues we think deserve a place in the conversation that haven’t quite made it there yet. Here are our four hopes for NDR 2026: policy changes that are not yet a major part of the national conversation, but that we believe would go a long way towards making Singapore’s parents and children feel genuinely supported.
An education system that lets children have a childhood, and gives parents a break
If you’re parenting in Singapore, you already know about the education arms race. The pressure is so pervasive that 32% of preschool parents surveyed told us that “the stress in the education system was one of the factors for me in deciding to have fewer children.” As the government explores ways to improve the TFR, reducing academic pressure should be on the table alongside childcare costs and availability.
One concrete step: make PSLE optional, required only for those seeking places at selective secondary schools, and guarantee all other children a through-train from primary to secondary school without a high-stakes sorting exam at age twelve.
This may sound radical, but Singapore is actually the only wealthy country that mandates a high-stakes “sorting” exam for all twelve-year-olds. Most comparable countries wait until fifteen or older, when children’s capacity to manage stress is more developed, while using lower-stakes standardised assessments in the meantime so parents aren’t left without information about their child’s progress.
Child psychologists warn that the stress associated with PSLE “can cause significant, long-lasting psychological harm.” Other countries have found different paths. It’s worth asking whether we should too.
Better parenting guidance at every stage
As a species, we know more than we ever have about how to protect children’s emotional health. But connecting research findings to the everyday reality of parenting isn’t always straightforward. Parents sometimes need support to break generational cycles.
IMH has reported rates of childhood emotional neglect here that are higher than in many comparable countries. 61% of Singaporean university students report experiencing emotional abuse as children. 45% of Singaporean parents use corporal punishment, which the WHO discourages as harmful.
The government can play a meaningful role by providing clear, accessible, evidence-based guidance at every stage of parenthood, from prenatal visits through the teenage years. Beyond protecting children from unnecessary harm, this investment may support family formation too: 40% of Singaporean millennials cited “a lack of knowledge and skills” as one of their biggest concerns about having children.
School cultures built around child well-being
Each new week seems to bring a new case of bullying or inappropriate behaviour in schools. It isn’t always clear whether schools have enough well-trained professionals to adequately support children in distress. Add unusually large class sizes and uneven support for children with special educational needs, and it becomes easier to see how some children fall through the cracks.
Parents rest easier when they know school is a safe space, physically and psychologically, for their child. We’re hoping for policies that strengthen genuine inclusion for all students and a broader rollout of restorative practices (already endorsed by MOE) that address bullying by treating the root causes of behaviour, not just the surface incidents.
Children’s well-being as an end in itself
The language of the government’s current review has been largely adult-centred: costs, careers, fertility rates. The stakes of the conversation can feel very economic, as well. Put simply: we need more children so the economy can continue to grow.
But children are more than their future economic potential. And it would be a mistake to view would-be parents as purely rational actors making family planning decisions based on financial calculations alone.
The government can, and hopefully will, do more to lower the material costs of parenthood. But this NDR, we hope to see policies that treat children’s well-being as a goal in itself, not as a means to a demographic end.
After all, children’s well-being is parents’ well-being. What if we made that our North Star?
EveryChild.SG is a non-profit movement to prioritise child well-being in Singapore, so that so that every child grows up safe, supported and loved. We do this through research, public engagement and collaboration with government and civil society.
