New pre-school training institute 'a testament to sector's growth'

Singapore

THE government's decision to establish a centralised institute for early childhood professionals is further proof that the sector is a burgeoning one in Singapore, according to some senior figures in the industry.

At the National Day Rally on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the setting up of a new organisation called the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC).

This institute, which will come under the ambit of the National Institute of Education, will consolidate the expertise of the existing childhood faculty in Temasek and Ngee Ann Polytechnics, the Institute of Technical Education, and the Seed Institute.

When ready, the NIEC will provide the full range of diploma and certificate programmes for pre-school professionals, as well as have the scale to develop curricula with different specialisations.

Victor Bay, chief executive officer of PAP Community Foundation, which operates PCF Sparkletots, welcomed the news of the new institute, hailing it as a "testament of how much the sector has grown in Singapore".

PCF Sparkletots is the country's largest pre-school operator with an enrolment of more than 40,000 children.

"Apart from the demand for additional early childhood educators, (the NIEC) will also expand the availability of continual professional development for our current teachers," he said. "All these will enable the profession to further progress and make early childhood an attractive career for many more."

Mr Bay said that PCF Sparkletots has been building up its capacity over the last few years, and stepped up professional development for over 5,000 of its early childhood educators.

"Over 97 per cent of them are trained in early childhood education with the rest currently undergoing or awaiting training. Together, they (have undergone) more than 200,000 hours of continual professional development in the past 12 months," he said.

During his rally speech, Mr Lee announced a slew of initiatives for the pre-school sector, among them 40,000 extra pre-school places in the next five years (taking the total to 200,000), and increasing the number of Ministry of Education (MOE) kindergartens from 15 to 50 by 2023.

All this will result in a significant boost in public spending - the government will commit an annual budget of S$1.7 billion on pre-school spending in 2022, which is more than double the S$840 million being spent this year.

David Chiem, founder and CEO of early childhood education provider MindChamps, noted that the workforce of the year 2037 is currently in pre-school, and it is not possible to predict what the world will be like two decades from now.

"This is why we need to nurture, in our children, the confidence, the compassion, the collaborative, creative and communication skills and the champion mindset that will prepare them for a world where the only constant is change," he said.

Meanwhile, both Education Ministers took to social media to weigh in on the various announcements made by the prime minister on the pre-school sector. Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung described the NIEC as a "major step" to develop a better future for Singapore's young, and one that will uplift the image and prestige of the pre-school profession.

"Education is the best leveller in a society. Research has shown that early childhood education has long-lasting impact on a child's development. Hence, the government is investing heavily in early childhood education," he said. Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng echoed Mr Lee's point that quality and affordable pre-school education had to be made accessible to all children in Singapore.

"In this, our MOE kindergartens have a big role to play - from nurturing early childhood bilingualism, to encouraging purposeful play. This will give our children a strong foundation to develop to their fullest potential," he said.

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