Early Childhood Development Agency to have support from MOE, MSF

SINGAPORE — Having both the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) play “an equal role” in the Early Childhood Development Agency will ensure that “it has the best of both worlds, but have a common front for operators, teachers and parents”, said Acting Minister for the MSF, Mr Chan Chun Sing yesterday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the recording of the Budget forum in Mandarin, Mr Chan said: “(At) the backend, we want the full support of MOE, from the education and curriculum development side. (From MSF), we want the full support … from the perspective of involving the family and the community in the aspect of the development of children.”

Having the agency overseen by both ministries would also dispel the idea that “early childhood development is all about education and academic achievements”, said Mr Chan.

Speaking on the sidelines of another event, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat also reiterated that the Government’s investments in pre-school — over S$3 billion in the next five years — “will make a difference for the learning of core skills”. When asked if the measures will only benefit pre-school anchor operators — the Government wants to rope more anchor operators into the market — Mr Heng said the Government’s aim is to help “level up” students from lower- and middle-income groups, which is achieved through subsidised fees.

He added: “There are aspects of the announcements relating to how we will help to produce resource materials for all pre-schools, as well as in the training of teachers. As we all know, the quality of education depends on the quality of teachers.”

WOO SIAN BOON and NG JING YNG