Dr Steven Barnett,
Director – National Institute For Early Education Research
Rutgers University, USA
Dr Mae Chu Chang
Lead General Educator – The World Bank Group
Mr Melvin Chan
Senior Director – The Pinnacle Group International
Distinguished speakers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Introduction
1. Let me first extend to our distinguished guests from overseas a very warm welcome to Singapore. We are grateful for the opportunity to benefit from your thoughts and expertise in this vital sector.
Investing in Quality Early Childhood Education for Our Children
2. The Singapore Government is fully committed to investing in the education and development of our children. My Ministry’s expenditure for child care has increased from S$69.2 million in 2005 to S$228.6 million in 2009. The money is used for infant and child care subsidies and development grants for childcare centres. This underscores our belief that the resources we commit towards developing our children in their formative years will determine the future of our society.
3. Many studies have shown that children who have gone through pre-school education have greater social and emotional maturity, better self-esteem, as well as higher academic motivation and capacity for independent work. The challenge is how we can increase the reach and elevate the standards of pre-school education for all children in Singapore whilst keeping it affordable. Our goal is for all children to receive early childhood education regardless of their family income or background.
4. To date, the MOE oversees 485 kindergartens, while MCYS has licensed over 755 child care centres. The child care centres serve about 30 per cent of children between the ages of 18 months and six years. Close to 55,000 children within this age range are enrolled in child care centres, and the number is rising, judging from recent trends in enrolment. For the 5 and 6-year-old cohort in particular, MOE and MCYS work closely to ensure that every child has an opportunity to have pre-school education. About 97.5 per cent of the 5 and 6-year old cohort attend either kindergartens or child care centres.
5. For child care centres, there has been a 3 per cent jump in enrolment since August 2008, with the current enrolment at 8 per cent higher than the enrolment one year ago. My Ministry is working with industry players to set up 200 new child care centres over the next 5 years, to increase supply of child care places, and give more choices and greater convenience to parents.
6. To level up the standard and quality of pre-school education, both my Ministry and the Ministry of Education have raised the minimum qualifications for pre-school teachers and are offering them scholarships and bursaries to upgrade themselves professionally. We also need to enhance curriculum research and innovation in teaching methods. In these regard, both Ministries are working with private sector players to offer professional courses in early childhood and special needs education to raise the professionalism and competency in this field.
Opportunities
7. The pre-school sector will offer many opportunities for employment in the coming years. For the child care sector alone, MCYS, together with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and RTRC Asia have introduced an accelerated Professional Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education to attract mid-career diploma and degree holders from other disciplines. This programme focuses on the developmental aspects of teaching children at child care centres, especially curriculum knowledge and pedagogy. Over the next 3 years, we are targeting to provide up to 250 training places in this programme. Coupled with the additional 200 new child care centres to be developed over 5 years, we will need at least 3000 personnel to staff these child care centres. This will create more employment opportunities and benefit the childcare sector with increased supply of childcare teachers.
Feedback and Solutions
8. The Government will continue to play a steering role in the child care industry, as well as a regulator of standards through our licensing requirements. However, the Government cannot enhance child care standards alone. The industry stands to gain more through collaborations, feedback and sharing of ideas between the public, people and private sectors. Hence, in this two-day conference, I hope we can learn from one another on how to meet the challenges of the industry and help our children achieve their potential.
Conclusion
8. I would like to thank the Pinnacle Group International for organising this important conference and I wish all of you an enriching and fruitful conference.
Thank you.