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EDUN N25-02-004

05601

8 Oct 2001

Pre-school Recurrent Grants to Help Kindergartens Get Better Qualified Kindergarten Teachers and Financial Assistance

         In our continuing efforts to upgrade Pre-School Education (PSE) in Singapore, the Ministry of Education (MOE) will be introducing the following new initiatives:

a.      New requirements for kindergarten teacher qualifications will be introduced from January 2008, and kindergartens have till end-2007 to comply with the new requirements.

b.      Government will provide annual recurrent grants to eligible non-profit kindergartens from 2002, to help them improve teacher quality and raise the standards of PSE.

c.      Government will provide, through the CCCs, financial assistance of $600 per annum per child to lower income families who send their children to improved pre-school programmes at qualifying non-profit kindergartens.

New Requirements for Kindergarten Teacher Qualifications

2.      In Dec 2000, MOE announced that all PSE principals would be required to attain Diplomas in Pre-School Education - Leadership in 5 years time (i.e. by end 2005). Following from this, MOE will be setting the following requirements for trained PSE teachers, which all kindergartens will have to meet by end 2007:

a.      one in four teachers have Diplomas in Pre-School Education - Teaching; and

b.      all other teachers have Certificates in Pre-School Teaching. The minimum academic qualification of a pre-school teacher should be 3 "O" levels including English Language (or Mother Tongue (MT) Language for MT teachers).

3.      These new requirements are in recognition of the fact that teacher quality is critical to efforts to improve PSE. Well-trained teachers are better able to encourage and guide their pre-school pupils to develop good social and learning skills.

Annual Recurrent Grants

4.      To help non-profit kindergartens which are the major providers of PSE meet these teacher qualification requirements, government will provide, from 2002, annual recurrent grants of:

a.      $15,000 per teacher/principal employed by the centre who is diploma trained or undergoing diploma training; and

b.      $7,500 per teacher employed by the centre who is certificate trained or undergoing certificate training.

5.      Eligible kindergartens will use the recurrent grants to attract and retain better-qualified principals and teachers. The grants can be used to structure more attractive pay schemes to encourage them to upgrade to required levels, and attract and retain more qualified principals and teachers, while keeping fees affordable. The grants can also be used to provide better support to teachers in terms of administrative or teaching resources.

6.      During the transitional period from 2002-7, kindergartens eligible for the grant must make a commitment to meet the qualification requirements. They will have to submit a three-year rolling plan in January each year for improving their teacher quality. From 2008, recurrent grants will only be given to eligible kindergartens that meet the qualification requirements for teachers and principals. Please see Annexfor the full set of eligibility criteria for the grant.

Financial Assistance

7.      Government will provide financial assistance of $600 per annum per child to lower income families who are sending their children to qualifying non-profit kindergartens from 2003. This will help offset any increase in fees that may occur as better developed PSE programmes take root, so that lower income families can have access to quality PSE. The financial assistance will have an element of co-funding by the community, with government providing a matching grant. CCCs will disburse the financial assistance.

8.      The financial assistance will be given to needy families which meet a means test and whose children are enrolled in centres that are receiving the recurrent grants. Needy families can apply for financial assistance in late 2002 for kindergarten fees incurred in the following year. More details on the financial assistance scheme will be released then.

Background

9.      In November 1999, MOE set up a Pre-School Education Steering Committee to study how the quality of pre-school education can be improved. The Steering Committee chaired by Senior Minister of State for Education Dr Aline Wong, includes Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary/MCDS, and representatives from MOE, MCDS, NIE, principals, and professionals in early childhood education.

10.     The committee has stated that its intention is not for the Government to take over the provision of PSE, as private sector and community involvement allows for diversity in the ethos and teaching methods of PSE. The committee will instead concentrate on key areas, such as defining outcomes, designing curriculum, improving teacher quality, improving the regulatory framework and conducting research. In line with these objectives, MOE announced a set of desired outcomes for PSE in March 2000. A PSE pilot research study on the benefits of pre-school education was also started. In December 2000, a new PSE training and accreditation framework was introduced. The provision of recurrent grants and financial assistance will help to support and sustain the improvements arising from these initiatives.

Annex

Recurrent Grant Eligibility Criteria

Kindergartens must meet all of the following criteria to qualify for the recurrent grant:

1.      Applicants must be registered with MOE and must be non-profit bodies;

2.      Applicants are registered under Section 29 of the Companies Act with a paid-up capital of at least $5 million; (Section 29 of the Companies Act sets out the conditions for a company to be registered with limited liability without adding the word "limited" to its name. These conditions include the requirement that the company serve some national or public interest, and that it is in a financial position to carry out its objectives.)

3.      Applicants must offer a good kindergarten programme. They must submit proposals for a kindergarten programme and curriculum to MOE's Pre-School Education Unit for approval;

4.      Applicants must have a good track record;

5.      Applicants do not have any religious affiliation or relation to racial groups;

6.      By end 2007, applicants must meet MOE's targets for trained teachers and principals and Pupil Teacher Ratio per session;

7.      Applicants will seek MOE's approval for any changes to fees.