Too many tadikas to choose from? Here’s a list comparing their costs

These days, you’re likely to find a tadika in just about any taman you set your foot into. But with so many options to choose from, it can be leceh comparing all these preschools and their costs.

Now before you start worrying, we’ve done some homework and compiled a list of popular tadikas in the country, complete with their prices. But let’s just say it wasn’t an easy task, and that’s because…

Most tadikas don’t openly share their fees

One of the first issues we ran into was the utter lack of information online. Nine times out of ten, the fee structure was nowhere to be found on the tadika’s website. On top of that, most tadikas we called wouldn’t reveal their prices unless we come by their premises bringing our non-existent kids 🫠

So for full disclosure, you’ll likely notice some price discrepancies due to the reasons below:

• Some of our sources date back several years, the earliest being 2014
• We relied on a few informal channels, like parents’ personal blogs and tiktok videos
• Despite being under the same branch, urban tadikas can cost more than their rural counterparts

That said, if you have any extra info on updated prices, let us know and we’ll add it to our list. And now that’s sorted, here’s the costs you’ve been waiting for.

The costs of public tadikas in Malaysia

The costs of private tadikas in Malaysia

Footnote: Annual fees are paid during registrations, and typically cover registration fees, uniforms, bags, books, insurance and other miscellaneous fees. 

Tadika fees can add up, so don’t forget to claim the tax relief

It goes without saying that the cost of sending your kids to preschool can really add up, especially if you have multiple kids. And no matter your income bracket, you’re bound to feel the pinch. The good news is that you won’t have to bear that financial burden alone.

You can claim up to RM3,000 worth of tax relief under Belanjawan 2023 if your kid, aged 6 years and below, is in a public or private preschool effective until the assessment year 2024. The only thing is to make sure those taskas and tadikas are accredited, which you can verify here:

• accredited taskas by JKM
• accredited tadikas by KPM

For civil servants, there’s also the Subsidi Yuran Taska which covers up to RM180 monthly per child if your household income is below RM7,000. You can find more info on that here.

There are also other initiatives in the works to make schooling a better experience overall, like raising the Supplementary Food Programme (Rancangan Makanan Tambahan) budget from RM625 million to RM777 million, and the Preschool Food Assistance (Bantuan Makanan Prasekolah) allocation RM89 million to RM108 million to help kids from low income families.

For more details on those Belanjawan perks, feel free to check out the Belanjawan 2023 website.