WHILE the headline-grabbing news last week focused on the much-awaited raising of standards of preschool teachers, I wonder if parents are ready to embrace the fact that this change will lead to preschool fees of over $1,000 a month, compared to the national average of $660 a month today (source: MCYS, March 2007).

Three realities will conspire to make this a not-too-distant scenario:

• Significantly fewer preschool teachers due to the higher qualifying criterion of five O levels (up from the current three);

• The concerted push towards more working women, as stated in various national policy initiatives; and

• The meteoric rise in commercial rents last year, reported as over 56 per cent between end-2006 and end-2007 in Parliament last week.

It does not require a rocket scientist (or a preschool teacher) to figure out that these three factors will lead to higher fees, sooner rather than later.