Speeches
FY 2008 Committee of Supply Debate: 7th Reply by Senior Parliamentary Secretary Mr Masagos Zulkifli BMM on Pre-School Education
Improving the Quality of Pre-School Education
Introduction
Mr Chairman, our current pre-school landscape is diverse, with about 500 kindergartens and 750 childcare centres operated by private and community organisations. They offer a variety of programmes tailored to the different needs of our students. While this diversity allows for experimentation and innovation by pre-school operators in the design of curriculum and delivery of programmes, we want to ensure that they continue to provide pre-school education of a good quality. International research indicates that pre-school education is particularly helpful in allowing children from low-income families to be more school ready. In addition, our research shows that it offers children from non-English speaking families an opportunity to develop their proficiency in English through exposure and practice. Hence, we want to make sure that these children have greater access to a good quality of pre-school education, so that they can obtain a firm foundation when they enter the primary school.
However, we recognise that pre-school education is not just about getting our children to be school ready, but also about providing a holistic approach to their development and learning1. Besides developing their skills in language, literacy and numeracy, we also want to ensure they undergo other critical areas of learning, such as aesthetic and creative expression, environmental awareness, motor skills development and self and social awareness. This is so that they can become well-rounded individuals who are equipped with the necessary competencies to prepare them for lifelong learning.
Also, the educational profile of parents has shifted over time. Parents have become more well-educated and better read, and have begun to demand as much emphasis on the rigour of the educational component of preschool as they had for aspects of care, even in the heartlands. While less than one fifth of P1 students had at least 1 parent who attended post-secondary education twenty years ago, this ratio has now increased to one half today. It is hence necessary to ensure that the quality of our pre-school teachers allows them to engage parents effectively and the standard of the preschool centres keep pace with their evolving demands.
Updates on the Initiatives in Pre-school Sector
Before detailing the list of initiatives that MOE will undertake to raise the quality of the preschool sector, allow me to report the progress of those we had already announced and executed previously. Last year, I announced the project pilot called the Focused Language Assistance in Reading programme or FLAiR. This initiative aims to provide targeted assistance in English to children from lower-income families, as many of them tend to lack reading materials, writing experiences, and opportunities for speaking and listening to the English Language at home. The children receive daily attention from para-educational professionals or Pro-FLAiRs who spend dedicated time reading or conversing with them either on a one-to-one basis or in groups of 4-6 children. The pilot in 2007 covered 57 heartland kindergartens. 600 children participated and they were able to develop early reading skills as a result of this programme. We now want to extend this to more children to benefit from this programme, we will be encouraging more kindergartens this year to provide this programme.
Dr Ong Seh Hong, Mrs Josephine Teo, Dr Amy Khor, Mr Michael Palmer and Mdm Cynthia Phua have asked about improving the quality of pre-school education. We have been implementing various initiatives over the years to uplift the quality of pre-school education through the better training of teachers. Firstly, we have articulated standards of professional qualifications for all major providers of pre-school education to meet. As at Jan this year, we have about 90% of the teachers employed in MOE-registered kindergartens and childcare centres who have attended or are undergoing training to acquire certificates or diplomas in pre-school education.
Secondly, to ensure acceptable standards in pre-school teaching training, MOE and MCYS have jointly set up the Pre-School Qualification Accreditation Committee (PQAC) in 2001 to accredit pre-school training courses up to diploma level. As at Dec 07, the PQAC has accredited 70 PQAC courses run by 21 training agencies.
Thirdly, to allow our pre-school teachers to attain a basic level of English proficiency, we mounted the English Communication Skills (ECS) Course in November to develop teachers’ accuracy, facility and fluency in the appropriate use of Standard English in various situations. To date, 315 kindergarten teachers have attended or are attending the course.
MOE has developed a pre-school curriculum framework in 2003 to guide pre-school operators in developing programmes that meet the needs of their children, and conducted in-service workshops and briefings to more than 7,000 teachers on its effective use. To date, more than 90% of kindergartens have adopted the principles of the curriculum framework in the design of their pre-school programmes.
As a result of our continual efforts, the quality of our pre-school has steadily improved over the years. Building on what we have been doing over the past few years, we are now ready to take the next step to further uplift across the board by improving the quality of teachers.
Raising Minimum Qualifications
MOE had previously set the minimum academic and professional qualifications of pre-school teachers in 2001. As a result, all pre-school teachers were required to have 3 ‘O’ level passes, including a pass in English, and the certificate-level professional qualification. At that time, the emphasis was on making sure that teachers received adequate professional training that would enable them to deliver their lessons effectively.
Over the years, there has been a shift in educational philosophy. In the past, teachers were seen as bearers of knowledge and expected to teach skills and content to children as passive learners. Now, children are viewed as active learners who construct knowledge for themselves, and the role of the teacher has transformed to one of helping them to construct their own learning in a seamless, integrated and holistic way. With this increased complexity, it is now timely to improve the basic calibre of our teachers so that they can continue to have the capacity to engage children through more sophisticated pedagogies.
Hence, we will require that from Jan 2009, all new teachers will need to have 5 ‘O’ level passes, including a pass in English, and hold a diploma-level professional qualification in order to teach in either kindergartens or childcare centres. This is attainable, given that there is a ready pool of candidates with 5 ‘O’ level passes which has grown from more than 70% of the ‘O’ Level cohort in 1997 to 80% in 2007.
In addition, we want our incumbent pre-school teachers to attain a basic level of English proficiency, so that they will be able to help our children, particularly those from non-English speaking families, to acquire the foundational language skills needed to be school ready. Hence, incumbent teachers who already have a diploma-level professional qualification do not need to meet the new requirement of 5 ‘O’ level passes, but they will need an ‘O’ level pass in English or a pass in an English proficiency test to teach K1 and K2 classes. If incumbent teachers are unable to obtain either a pass in English or a diploma-level professional qualification by Jan 2013, they can still teach at the nursery level. To further uplift the standards of English proficiency, we will also require new teachers with C5 or C6 in English to pass an English proficiency test within two years.
Sir, in order to help boost the overall quality of our teachers over time, we will require each pre-school centre to have at least 75% of all its teachers, including K1/K2 and pre-nursery/nursery teachers together, to meet the new requirements by Jan 2013. Teachers who qualify will include:
- New teachers with at least 5 O-Level credits, including EL, and a diploma-level professional qualification, and secondly;
- Incumbent teachers with an O-Level credit in EL, or a pass in an EL proficiency test, and the diploma-level professional qualification.
Currently, already more than half2 of our incumbent teachers meet the revised requirements. A centre can retain incumbent teachers who not meet these requirements as long as they teach at the nursery or pre-nursery levels, but these teachers should comprise less than 25% of all teachers in the centre in 2013.
To encourage teachers and principals to continuously upgrade their academic qualifications and professional expertise, MOE and MCYS will be offering bursaries to pre-school professionals from this year onwards. This will enable them to enhance their competencies so that they can provide better pre-school education for the children under their charge.
In addition, we will also further tighten standards of accredited pre-school teacher training courses to enhance the rigour of teacher training. The revisions are expected to be completed some time around mid 2008 and the enhanced standards will take effect from 2009.
We will also work with professional bodies to present awards to outstanding and innovative teachers. These awards will help to identify and build up a pool of capable pre-school teachers to serve as role models and mentors to fellow teachers. Funding will be provided for these teachers to attend mentoring courses and they will also be involved in sharing good teaching practices. In this way, we hope that they can help develop a positive sharing culture throughout the pre-school sector, and uplift the overall quality of teachers in the sector in the process.
Developing a Quality Assurance and Accreditation Framework
Besides raising the minimum qualifications of pre-school teachers, we are of the firm belief that the quality of the pre-school sector will improve across the board if operators are provided with resources to help them monitor their performance and upgrade themselves. As mentioned by members, to nurture a climate of continual self-improvement in kindergartens, MOE developed and distributed a tool, called Pursuing Excellence at Kindergartens or PEAK for short, to encourage kindergartens to conduct yearly self-appraisals and think of more effective ways of delivering educational outcomes, and this was introduced in 2003. As of Dec last year, 90% of kindergartens have practised self-appraisals in their kindergartens, and found the tool to be helpful.
Mrs Josephine Teo and Mr Michael Palmer also asked about quality assurance. To encourage pre-school operators to further uplift their standards and strive for greater excellence in pre-school education, MOE and MCYS will develop a voluntary quality assurance and accreditation framework and implement it from Jan 2011 to guide pre-schools in gauging their progress in achieving a higher standard beyond the minimum requirements. Through this framework, pre-school operators will be able to benchmark their education outcomes through yearly self-appraisal and external assessment. Pre-school operators that meet specified standards may then apply for accreditation. Although participation is not compulsory, attaining a good quality rating or accreditation status is an endorsement and recognition of the quality of the pre-school. We believe that this will incentivise pre-school operators to improve their standards over time, uplifting the quality of the pre-school sector in the process.
To support pre-schools in their efforts, MOE will provide them with additional curriculum resources to help teachers implement the curriculum framework. MOE has embarked on a project to develop a Curriculum Planning Guide which aims to guide teachers to translate MOE’s curriculum framework into quality learning and teacher-pupil interactions. The Planning Guide will also provide suggestions for pre-schools to plan, monitor and reflect on experiences and instruction that will enable children to make progress in their learning and development.
We also recognise that a well-resourced classroom can provide a stimulating environment for learning. With effect from 2008, non-profit pre-schools can apply for grants to purchase teaching and learning resources such as books, computers and software.
To nurture a spirit of innovation and experimentation among pre-schools, MOE and MCYS will also introduce an innovation fund this year. This aims to provide seed funding to encourage pre-school operators to try out new ideas and experiment on areas that will have an impact on the quality of learning and teaching, pupil development and school management.
We will also be exploring the development of an early childhood education training and research programme within NIE, so as to build up a strong local community of expertise in ECE leadership and research.
Improving Accessibility of Pre-school
While we develop ways to improve the quality of pre-school and allocate resources for it, we want as many children as possible to benefit from it. We thank Mdm Cynthia Phua for her question on improving the accessibility of pre-school education. To provide access to those who are currently not attending pre-school, MOE, MCYS and grassroots organisations have put in place an outreach programme since last year to identify 5-year-old children who are not attending pre-school. Yes, they may be volunteers from the grassroots organisations, but their job is not just to conduct visits to families with children identified as not attending pre-school but to provide help to them by offering their children places in kindergartens or referring them to social service agencies. The percentage of our 5-year-old children not attending pre-school is now about 3%. MOE and MCYS will continue to work closely with the community to support grassroots organisations in their outreach efforts this year.
MOE has also worked with primary schools since 2006 to identify 6-year-old children who are not attending pre-school somehow at the point of the Primary One registration exercise, and help them place their children in pre-school for the remaining months prior to the start of Primary 1. We have also supported the Self-Help Groups in their Bridging Programme to help equip needy children who did not attend pre-school with basic school readiness skills. We will continue to adopt this targeted approach to reach out to these children, as we believe that this would be more effective in getting them to attend pre-school than introducing compulsory education at this point of time.
Ensuring Affordability of Pre-school Education
Currently, MOE provides annual recurrent grants to help eligible kindergartens3 who cater largely to lower-income families with additional resources to improve their quality, while maintaining affordability of fees. MOE has provided $17 million in 2007 for this purpose. To ensure that pre-school education continues to remain affordable with the raised teacher qualifications, MOE will be enhancing the recurrent grants for these kindergartens. We will give details later on.
Parents can continue to make use of the Baby Bonus and the monies in their Child Development Account to pay for any increase in pre-school fees.
And of course, for the needy, a variety of financial assistance schemes have also been put in place to help children from lower-income families, such as the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) and the Centre-Based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC). MCYS will be announcing enhancements to both schemes to help more families to pay for their pre-school fees.
For those who need further help, community-based support is also available through the grassroots organisations, self-help groups and PCF kindergartens, to supplement the government subsidies. For example, CDAC and MENDAKI provide additional financial assistance under the Pre-School Assistance and Support Scheme (PASS) and Education Trust Fund (ETF) initiatives respectively. Advisors and grassroots leaders can also tap on the Citizens’ Consultative Committees’ Welfare and Education Fund and ComCare Fund to assist their residents who may not qualify for assistance somehow. The government will continue to review the affordability of pre-school education, to make sure that no child will be denied a place in pre-school because of financial difficulties.
MOE will be spending a total of $30.5 million in 2009 for all the initiatives to uplift the quality of the pre-school sector.
Enhancing the Image of the Pre-school Sector
Lastly, Mr Zainudin Nordin spoke on the need to enhance the remuneration and professional image of our pre-school teachers. While matters pertaining to remuneration are directed by pre-school providers and essentially market driven, more importantly, MOE and MCYS recognise that the most direct way to enhance the professional image of our pre-school teachers is to improve the calibre and training of our pre-school workforce. This is why we have raised the minimum academic and professional qualifications for pre-school teachers.
The Association of Early Childhood Educators, Singapore or AECES, promotes the professional development of early childhood educators and has disseminated a Code of Ethics to all pre-schools. MOE and MCYS will encourage AECES to play a more active role in improving the image of the early childhood professionals.
To help kindergartens identify training needs and prioritise areas for the professional development of their staff, MOE has developed and disseminated a Professional Development Framework. We also organise in-service training workshops for pre-school educators to improve their pedagogical, leadership and management skills. Teachers and principals are invited to share their experiences and good practices in areas such as curriculum planning, teaching strategies, assessment, partnerships with parents and community, and action research at sharing sessions and briefings for kindergarten leaders. Overseas experts on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) have also been invited by MOE and MCYS to conduct seminars so as to further build a professional pre-school workforce.
Conclusion
In conclusion Sir, the ministry will continue to review our efforts to uplift the quality of pre-school education, so as to ensure that all children, without losing sight of those from low-income families, will be ready for school and prepared for life.
Thank you.
Footnotes:
- The Kindergarten Curriculum Framework is underpinned by six principles, namely a holistic approach to development and learning, integrative learning, children as active learners, adults as interested supporters in learning, interactive learning and play as a medium for learning. Under the holistic approach, six critical areas of learning are identified, namely aesthetics and creative expression, environmental awareness, language and literacy, motor skills development, numeracy and self and social awareness. ↩
- Currently, about 50% (1476 out of 3050) of kindergarten teachers and 60% (2672 out of 4458) of childcare teachers meet the revised requirements. This includes MTL teachers with an ‘O’ level credit in MTL and a DPE-T. ↩
- To be eligible, kindergartens must be non-profit bodies registered under Section 29 of the Companies Act with a paid-up capital of at least $5 million. They should not have any religious affiliation or relation to racial groups. In addition, they must offer a good 2-year kindergarten programme, must have a good track record, and must meet MOE’s targets for trained teachers and supervisors and PTR. ↩