Focus on quality of educators, not quantity: Minister

SINGAPORE — A focus on developing the quality of educators in the early childhood sector rather than quantity is more important, said Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing yesterday as two new initiatives were rolled out to attract and develop pre-school educators.

At a ceremony to recognise the recipients of the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) Scholarships and Training awards, Mr Chan noted that since the agency was formed last year, it has focused on developing the manpower in the sector.

“We know and we understand that whatever we do in this sector, nothing will come to fruition if we do not pay sufficient attention to the quality of people in the sector,” he said.

“And I would say that the quality of people in this sector is even more important than the numbers itself.”

Previous efforts to raise standards, attract and retain talent in the sector, which has long faced a manpower crunch, have included the introduction of a voluntary framework to map out various career pathways for educators, a new traineeship scheme and more training courses as part of the Continuing Professional Development Masterplan.

Yesterday, a new ECDA Institute of Technical Education Training Award was introduced for students taking the ITE Higher Nitec in Early Childhood Education, which will support more students who intend to pursue a career in this sector.

It will provide a full sponsorship of the two-year course fees and study allowance, among other things. This adds up to about S$16,300 for each student, who will then be required to serve a one-year bond in the sector for each year of support received.

Currently, there are about 160 students taking the ITE Higher Nitec in Early Childhood Education. Interested applicants can begin applying for the award next month.

Also introduced yesterday was an Advanced Diploma in Early Childhood Leadership that will replace the existing diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education — Leadership.

To prepare pre-school educators for leadership roles, the new course will focus on how one can guide teachers when planning a curriculum, how feedback to teachers may be provided and how to improve upon their pedagogical practices, for instance. It will also help educators learn how to manage staff performance and development.

From April 2016, the course will be offered at the Temasek and Ngee Ann polytechnics and delivered in a modular fashion to give, for example, educators the flexibility of choosing the module sequence and allow them to control the pace of completion of the programme. In comparison, educators are required to complete the current diploma programme within a fixed time-frame. In addition, about 25 per cent of the course will involve online learning. Practicum hours will also be increased from the current 200 to 250 hours.

Ms Phyllis Tan, chief executive officer of Metropolitan YMCA, which runs MY World Preschool, said she found the more stringent eligibility criteria for the course, which requires educators to have at least a year’s experience as a senior teacher in the sector, to be an advantage.

With that, centres and organisations would be able to gauge their capabilities and identify the right people for leadership roles, said Ms Tan.