Preschool Teachers: Past VS Future
The preschool landscape in Singapore has changed quite a bit over the last five years, or have it not? Did you notice the difference (maybe other than the rise in school fees)?
Well, as a matter of fact, there were indeed many changes made. More Anchor Operators were appointed to ensure that any fee increases are kept affordable; the Partner Operator scheme was launched to support mid-sized and smaller childcare operators with funding to reduce current fees; investment in improving quality through the Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework (SPARK) and developing their staff professionally.
This year, with demand for preschool places still on the rise, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has highlighted more plans to enhance the preschool landscape during his National Day Rally (NDR) speech. More preschool places will be created, including in infant care and nursery classes, to ease the burden on working parents who cannot leave their children at home or with grandparents. Preschool teachers can also expect better training and careers.
And like what MacPherson Member of Parliament Tin Pei Ling said, “We need to think about how to reinforce the image that being a preschool educator is a professional job, so more people would find it attractive to join this sector.”
Yes, there are about 16,000 preschool educators currently, but with 4,000 more needed by 2020.
So what opportunities lie ahead as a preschool educator? What changes have been made to this teaching profession and what can we expect?
Well, we found four major enhancements made to this wonderful and important profession which will continue to make great differences in our child’s learning journey. .
1. You can be certified from more recognised institutions.
A new National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) will be established for preschool teachers and carers. It will bring together the various preschool teacher training programmes offered in these institutions, providing the full range of diploma and certificate programmes for preschool professionals.
It will also have the scale to develop curricula with various specialisations like music, art or special education. PM Lee said, within a larger fraternity, the faculty will have more opportunities for professional development and progression.
2. You can receive more funding from the Government.
The Government will also provide training awards for students of the new institute. The awards will cover fees and an allowance, so preschool teachers can make a strong start to their careers.
The Workforce Singapore (WSG) also provides Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PR) with subsidies for programmes accredited under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) Framework. Singaporeans and PR also enjoy subsidised fees at local Polytechnics. For more information of the programmes fees, please contact the training agencies or polytechnics.
3. You don’t have to do too much administrative duties.
Preschool teachers can devote more time to enhancing the quality of care and education, without having to focus on administrative work. More than 400 preschools will be adopting the SMART Solutions, an initiative by ECDA, the Association of Early Childhood and Training Services (ASSETS) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA),
This helps to ease teachers’ administrative duties such as managing payments, staff deployment and training, children’s attendance and temperature records, parent-teacher communication, and producing reports for renewal of licences. It also helps document activities and the children’s developmental progress for easy sharing with parents.
4. You can expect higher salary and better career progression.
“Because teachers are trained well, paid well and have good career prospects, good people take up teaching and we have a good education system,” PM Lee said in his NDR speech. “We will take the same approach with preschool teachers: Train them well, reward them well and attract good, passionate people.”
He added that the Government will also work with employers to ensure good career prospects and competitive pay. Though the salaries have gone up over the last five years, with starting salaries for early childhood diploma fresh graduates drawing $1,900 in 2012 to $2250 in 2016, he stressed that salaries need to rise further as the profession is upgraded. In particular, salaries must match career progression, and “must be competitive” not just for teachers, but for senior specialists, supervisors and principals.
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