Is Fast-Track Course for Kindergarten Teachers Necessary? (Cecilia Ko, ST Forum Online, 19/2)

I refer to last Thursday’s article, ‘Fast-track course for kindergarten teachers’.

According to the article, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, who announced plans for the Advanced Diploma for Kindergarten Education - Teaching on Tuesday, said the 10-month course developed by Singapore Polytechnic will provide the ‘much-needed teachers to raise the quality of preschool education’.

This new course, which is targeted at mid-career entrants and fresh graduates, covers topics on curriculum knowledge and teaching methods. My questions to the Ministry of Education (MOE) are:

• Why is there a need for this new diploma course when one can complete the Diploma in Preschool Teaching (now called the Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education - Teaching) course as a full-time student in nine months or the Specialist Diploma course as a full-time student in about 18 months? After all, both courses are offered by Preschool Qualification Accreditation Committee-approved institutions.

  The duration of the new course for mid-career entrants is 700 hours (no mention of practicum hours) and the one for fresh graduates is 900 hours (no mention of practicum hours).

  Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education - Teaching training hours have been increased from 700 to 900 classroom hours (excluding practicum hours), and Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education - Leadership training hours have been increased from 500 to 650 classroom hours (excluding practicum hours).

  If the training hours were changed to reflect the quality of training in early years educators, why does this new course have much shorter training hours and how does this reflect the quality of early years educators? How can it help to raise the quality of preschool education?

• How can MOE be certain that the quality of preschool education will be raised with this accelerated course targeted at mid-career entrants and fresh graduates? Teaching young children requires patience, love and a passion for children’s well-being and learning.

  One important quality indicator is the disposition of the teachers - how can this course determine that? By attracting people who need a job rather than those with a calling to educate and care for young children?

• Why does this new course apply only to kindergarten teachers and not childcare teachers? Why is there a disparity between these two groups of educators? Does it mean kindergarten teachers do not ‘care’ for children and their responsibilities are limited to teaching? Likewise, childcare teachers’ sole responsibility is ‘caring for’ children and not educating them?

  The Certificate, Diploma and Specialist Diploma courses were renamed Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education - Teaching to reflect care and education, recognising that these cannot be viewed as separate entities. This is apparently a false dichotomy.

  Data at the MOE website indicates that kindergarten teachers with a university degree are paid $2,000 upwards a month while diploma-holders are paid $1,600 or more a month, though different kindergartens have different pay scales.

  However, MOE does not give guidelines on the pay scale of childcare teachers who are degree-holders, even though both groups have the same teaching qualifications accredited by the Preschool Qualification Accreditation Committee (which is made up of directors from MOE and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports).

  I think there was a previous response with reference to MOE giving guidelines for childcare centres because they are affected by market factors and controlled by operators who come under MCYS.

• This new course proposed by MOE seems to downplay the importance of leadership and action research that takes place in the classroom, which the Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education - Leadership emphasises. As teachers, whether in child care or kindergarten, we have a responsibility to look after children and undertake appropriate observations and report where we can take preventive measures to help children in need or who face difficulties in their learning.

If, according to MOE, leadership and action research are not necessary in the new course, why can’t mid-career entrants and fresh graduates take the Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education course? Why is a new ‘fast-track’ course necessary?