Artist-in-School Scheme seeks to boost children’s access to the arts

SINGAPORE — More than 300 children in up to 10 pre-schools are expected to benefit from a new two-year programme for local artists to teach their craft in pre-school classrooms.

The Artist-in-School Scheme, a collaboration between the National Arts Council (NAC) and the Early Childhood Development Agency, was rolled out for pre-schools this year.

Each school receives a grant of up to S$7,000 a project, including the teaching and training fees for the artist or arts group.

The art forms can include anything from music and painting to dance, puppetry and clay modelling. In addition, the programme includes training workshops led by artists for pre-school teachers.

The NAC said up to S$200,000 had been set aside for the scheme over the next two years. The programme has been piloted in five pre-schools — Child@Street11, NTUC My First Skool Yung An, Salvation Army Child Care (Bukit Panjang), Soka Kindergarten and PCF Sparkletots Pasir Ris West.

Speaking at a visit to PCF Sparkletots Pasir Ris West yesterday, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong said: “We want our young children to enjoy all the benefits of learning in and through the arts. These authentic learning opportunities will ignite their sense of wonder and discovery, and help them develop confidence in expressing themselves.”

Said Ms Hazel Wong from Ceramique Studio, who teaches students basic clay-modelling techniques at PCF Sparkletots Pasir Ris West: “The (children’s) fingers are their tools and they can make anything they want, so it’s really empowering for a kid who may have some fears of using a pencil or paint.”

The artists are identified by the NAC based on a pre-school’s art form of interest. The selected artists or arts groups then meet the pre-schools to discuss the programme, for which artists must submit proposals, including objectives and proposed lesson plans.