EMBARGOED TILL 4 PM, 11 APRIL 2017

                                                                       

Early childhood operators and employees to benefit from two new sector initiatives  

HR capability of operators to be boosted and career advisory to assist interested 

job seekers

 

 

SINGAPORE, 11 April 2017 – To meet the increasing demand for talent in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) sector, Workforce Singapore (WSG) is collaborating with the Association of Early Childhood and Training Service (ASSETS) and Association for Early Childhood Educators (Singapore) (AECES) to develop two initiatives, namely the Progressive HR Practices Early Adopter Programme for EC operators, and the SkillsFuture Career Advisors Programme for jobseekers interested to join the sector. These key initiatives for the ECCE sector were announced today by Minister of State (Manpower) & Mayor, North East CDC, Mr Teo Ser Luck at the first ECCE Leadership & HR Conference co-organised by WSG and ASSETS.

 

Progressive HR Practices Early Adopter Programme

2.         The Progressive HR Practices Early Adopter Programme, developed by WSG in consultation with ASSETS, aims to help EC operators address the challenges of employee retention.  Under the programme, HR consultants will train, mentor and guide EC operators to implement proven HR practices and good leadership, so as to foster a workplace culture and environment that focuses on employee welfare, personnel development and mentoring, and build quality workplaces that foster employee engagement and loyalty. 

 

3.         More than 20 EC operators have signed up since the programme was introduced in February 2017, benefitting 2,800 employees in their preschools.  The Progressive HR Practices Early Adopter Programme supports the Government’s call to companies to ‘Transform and Grow’ by adopting progressive HR practices and offer quality jobs with good advancement opportunities to Singaporeans.  Refer to Annex A for details of the programme.

 

4.         Ms Peh Li Lin, Director of Zee Schoolhouse Pte Ltd, who operates four childcare centres said, “Many operators including ourselves are experiencing a manpower crunch.  By embarking on this programme, we can learn how to recruit and select the right people whose values are aligned to our organisation.  We also want to improve the working environment, and have happier employees by introducing best practices in employee engagement and retention. High attrition is a cost to us, and it also reduces the organisation’s productivity.”

 

SkillsFuture Career Advisors Programme

5.         The SkillsFuture Career Advisors Programme for ECCE is a new initiative under Adapt and Grow, targeted at jobseekers.  Developed by WSG and AECES, the programme aims to build a pool of career advisors who will provide career advisory and assist job seekers with their understanding of careers in ECCE and the criteria and aptitude required to join the sector. 

 

6.         To date, a total of 24 professionals, comprising centre leaders, pre-school teachers and curriculum specialists, have volunteered their time as career advisors to jobseekers interested in an early childhood career.  A series of advisory sessions will be organised during which the advisors will provide jobseekers with industry information to help ensure a better match of jobseekers’ career aspirations and expectations with the job requirements and employers’ expectations.  The programme’s efforts to connect potential jobseekers with experienced incumbents will help jobseekers make better-informed career decisions about joining the sector, and minimise mismatches in their job search,   which in turn will enhance the sector’s efforts to attract and retain talent.  Refer to Annex B for the details on the SkillsFuture Career Advisors Programme.

 

First ECCE Leadership & HR Conference

 

7.         The key initiatives for the ECCE sector were announced today by Minister of State (Manpower) & Mayor, North East CDC, Mr Teo Ser Luck, who was the Guest of Honour at the first ECCE Leadership & HR Conference co-organised by WSG and ASSETS.  The half-day conference was held to raise awareness of the role that leaders and HR have on workplace culture, workplace happiness and retention of talent.  It also provided the platform for industry players to network and share best practices in HR and leadership.  About 200 guests attended the conference. 

 

8.         In conjunction with the conference, the first SkillsFuture Career Advisors’ group advisory session and an employer networking event with five EC operators were organised for 80 jobseekers.  More than 110 educator job vacancies were offered at the networking session.

9.         Chief Executive of Workforce Singapore, Mr Tan Choon Shian said, “These initiatives for the ECCE sectors are significant, in that they help enhance the sector’s ability to attract talent, and offer rewarding and fulfilling careers to Singaporeans. This is also made even more crucial as the early years are critical in shaping the foundation of a child’s development, and having the right talent in the sector is important.”  

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For media queries, please contact:

 

Ms Loretta Song

Assistant Director

Corporate and Marketing Communications Division

DID: 6512 1344

HP: 9782 1992

Email: Loretta_song@wsg.gov.sg

About Workforce Singapore (WSG)

Workforce Singapore promotes the development, competitiveness, inclusiveness, and employability of all levels of the workforce. Its key mission is to enable Singaporeans to meet their career aspirations, take on quality jobs at different stages of life, and help enterprises be competitive and manpower-lean. Workforce Singapore’s focus is on strengthening the Singaporean core and ensuring that Singaporeans are able to have better jobs and careers. Workforce Singapore, in partnership with key stakeholders, also provides support to business owners and companies to enable them to transform and grow, while building a future-ready workforce.

For more information, please visit www.wsg.gov.sg

 

About Association of Early Childhood and Training Services (ASSETS)

The Association of Early Childhood & Training Services (ASSETS) was formed in 2012. ASSETS is a non-profit organisation, run by and for private pre-school and teacher-training operators in Singapore. ASSETS is registered with the Registrar of Societies. For more information, visit www.assets.org.sg.

About Association for Early Childhood Educators (Singapore) (AECES)

Founded in 1999, AECES is the only specialized body committed to guiding the conduct of early childhood educators through an established Code of Ethics. Working towards their vision of early childhood educators attaining recognition as professionals making a difference in children’s lives, AECES also promotes their professional development. At the same time, it collaborates with the local and global community for the well-being of children and families. For more information, please log on to www.aeces.org

 

ANNEX A

 

Factsheet For The Progressive HR Practices Early Adopter Programme for the Early Childhood Care and Education Sector

 

Programme Objective

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) sector currently employs an estimated 16,000 Early Childhood (EC) professionals comprising principals, teachers and educarers. The sector needs to attract another 4,000 EC professionals by 2020 to meet the demand for child care places

ECCE operators provided feedback on some of the key drivers for retaining qualified and experienced EC professionals. These include, work culture, centre leadership, professional development, and job satisfaction.

The Progressive HR Practices Early Adopter Programme for ECCE, developed by Workforce Singapore Agency (WSG) and managed by the Association of Early Childhood and Training Services (ASSETS), aims to address this key manpower challenge by helping operators build up their leadership and HR capabilities through training and consultancy.

Programme Details

The Progressive HR Practices Early Adopter Programme for ECCE is a 12-month programme comprising three phases:

• Phase 1 – Diagnosis

  EC operators will go through a HR diagnosis and conduct an employee satisfaction survey to assess their current HR maturity. The purpose of the diagnosis phase is to help EC operators identify gaps in their HR practices. 

• Phase 2 – Training

  Owners and principals of the participating operators will be required to undergo a 2-day Leadership Programme to improve their HR practices by imparting best-of-class leadership qualities such as building a strong company culture to creating effective leadership communications within their organisation. HR personnel of the participating operators will be required to attend a 4-day HR Capability Development Programme to train them in recruitment, retention, learning and development, performance management and employee engagement activities. Capelle Consulting and EON Consulting & Training Pte Ltd are the appointed training providers to deliver the training programmes.

• Phase 3 – Consultancy and implementation

The training providers will guide the EC operators in identifying and implementing two HR projects to enhance their HR practices. One of the HR projects must adopt the Skills Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education, which can help employers enhance their talent management capabilities. 

Interested EC operators are required to sign up for the programme before 31 October 2018.

Eligibility Criteria and Funding Support

The Progressive HR Practices Early Adopter Programme for ECCE is open to all Singapore Citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents who are principals, centre leaders or employees of ECDA licensed child care centres or ECDA registered kindergartens.

The funding support is as follows:

Grant Component	Funding Support	Remarks
Course fee grant   (Leadership Programme and HR Capability Development Programme)	70% course fee grant   * SMEs[1] to receive up to 90% course fee grant	WSG to fund up to 6 training places for the 2 training programmes
Consultancy grant   (mentorship workshops)	70% course fee grant   * SMEs to receive up to 90% course fee grant	WSG to fund up to 20 hours for HR consultancy
Incentives to companies	$20,000	EC operator who successfully completed the project and submit a workforce report including employee satisfaction ratings, retention rate, six months after the completion of the project.

For more information and application, please contact:

The Association of Early Childhood and Training Services (ASSETS)

ASSETS hotline: 6220 8200       ASSETS email: secretariat@assets.org.sg

Workforce Singapore 

Email:  ong_kieng_hwee@wsg.gov.sg or claire_huang@wsg.gov.sg

ANNEX B

Factsheet For The Skillsfuture Career Advisors Programme for the Early Childhood Care and Education Sector

 

The SkillsFuture Career Advisors Programme for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) sector is an initiative under Adapt and Grow in partnership with the Association for Early Childhood Educators (Singapore) (AECES).

Under this initiative, 24 professionals currently working in the ECCE sector serve as SkillsFuture Career Advisors to interested jobseekers. The Career Advisors comprise Pre-School Teachers and Centre Leaders who have volunteered their time to provide advice on the work and expectations of the EC profession. This is to help jobseekers make more informed decisions before joining the sector so as to minimise mismatches and improve retention of the new entrants to the sector.

For more information, please visit www.skillsfuture.sg/career-advisors.