19th October 2026 - 5 min read
Private nursery and kindergarten fees are expected to rise by up to 20%, Utusan Malaysia reports. For a nursery charging RM700 a month, that would be up to RM140 more. Operators blame the new minimum wage, which goes up from RM1,700 to RM2,000 in June 2027. Malaysian Kindergarten Association (PTM) chairman Elvis Gan said higher prices for food, cleaning products, and learning materials are also pushing up costs.
Utusan Malaysia estimates that private nursery (taska) fees currently run RM700 to RM1,000 a month, and kindergarten (tadika) fees run RM500 to RM1,500. Where your child’s centre falls in that range depends on location, facilities, and the package you pick.
This is what fees would look like after a 20% rise.
| Centre type | Current fee | Fee after a 20% rise |
| Nursery (taska) | RM700 to RM1,000 | RM840 to RM1,200 |
| Kindergarten (tadika) | RM500 to RM1,500 | RM600 to RM1,800 |
That’s RM140 to RM200 more a month for one child at a nursery, or RM1,680 to RM2,400 a year. At a kindergarten, it’s RM100 to RM300 more a month, or RM1,200 to RM3,600 a year.
PTM hasn’t proposed a fee increase. Gan only showed how a caregiver’s RM300 pay rise is shared among the children in their care. Under the Child Care Centre Regulations 2012, one caregiver can look after up to three babies under one. That makes each baby’s share RM100 a month. For children aged one to three it’s five children, or RM60 each, and for ages three to four it’s ten, or RM30 each. That assumes the centre is full, and leaves out the employer’s EPF and SOCSO payments and other staff costs.
On a RM700 nursery fee, a 20% rise is RM140 a month. If your child is a baby and the centre is full, about RM100 of that RM140 is the pay rise. For a child aged one to three it’s about RM60, and for a child aged three to four, about RM30. If your centre gives the minimum wage as the reason, you can ask what the rest of the increase is for. For a baby, that’s the other RM40.
PTM hasn’t said when fees would rise. Centres could raise them from January 2027, months before the new wage starts in June.
When the RM1,700 minimum wage was announced in October 2024, kindergarten and nursery associations said fees would rise the following year. Some childcare centres raised fees from January 2025, before the new wage first applied in February. Check the start date on any fee notice you get, and whether the increase starts in January or only from June.
Under Budget 2027, smaller businesses with sales under RM50 million a year don’t have to pay the RM2,000 rate yet. They only need to keep paying at least RM1,700. A nursery with 50 children paying RM1,000 a month takes in RM600,000 a year, nowhere near RM50 million. That means many nurseries and kindergartens may not have to pay RM2,000 from June. The Finance Ministry has said these businesses are getting more time, but it hasn’t said for how long.
The Malaysian Employers Federation has asked the government to make clear how it will check a business’s yearly sales. That said, centres still compete for staff with employers who will pay RM2,000. Caregivers’ pay may go up even where the law doesn’t require it. So ask whether the RM2,000 rate even applies to your centre.
Private kindergartens are registered with the Education Ministry (MOE), and the ministry has to approve their fees. Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek explained the rule in the Dewan Negara on 26 August 2025. A kindergarten can only ask to raise its fees three years after its last approved rate. The increase also can’t be more than 30%. If the 30% is based on the current fee, a kindergarten charging RM800 a month could go up to RM1,040 at most. Nurseries are registered with the Social Welfare Department (JKM), so the MOE limit doesn’t cover them.
Before you pay the new year’s fees, ask your kindergarten when MOE approved its current rate, and whether the ministry has allowed a new increase. If an increase comes sooner than three years after the last one, ask to see the ministry’s approval.
Keep claiming the childcare tax relief of up to RM3,000 a year. The RM3,000 is for each taxpayer, not each child, and for fees paid from 2026 it covers children up to 12. For the other rules, such as which parent can claim, see our childcare tax relief guide. The relief lowers the income you pay tax on, so how much you save depends on how much you earn. If you earn RM35,001 to RM50,000 a year after reliefs, the RM3,000 relief saves you about RM180 in tax. If you earn RM50,001 to RM70,000 after reliefs, it saves you about RM330. That covers only a small part of a RM1,680 to RM2,400 rise.
TABIKA KEMAS, for children aged four to six, charges far less than a private kindergarten. If there’s one near you, ask whether it still has places.
When you add the extra fees to your household budget, plan for the higher amount from January. Change your budget if your centre confirms a later date.
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Christina writes about personal finance with an eye for making the complicated feel straightforward. She is drawn to the everyday money decisions people face and genuinely enjoys finding the clearest way to explain them. Between articles, she is probably napping, on a hiking trail, or terrorising her sister’s cats.
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