NTUC This Week: NTUC First Campus (NFC) has reached 40, what role has it played in society over the years?
Mr Chan Tee Seng: The reason why NTUC started the NTUC Childcare in 1977 was because of the newly industrialising economy. Many people were entering the workforce, and many families have dual income – both husbands and wives. There was a practical need for them to have someone look after their children when they were at work. It was therefore natural for NTUC to be concerned about the provision of childcare services. If you look at today’s workforce, especially the female participation rate, it has continued to increase to 60.4 per cent in 2016. It reflects a changing social structure, and the need for accessible and quality preschool services remain important. When we think about this service that we are providing, in my view, it is very relevant to the Labour Movement because it is about meeting a very important basic need of working families.
NFC’s new mission marks a new chapter as it turns 40. Why the change now?
When we refreshed our vision statement this year, we mentioned partnering families to give them a peace of mind. Every child, no matter their family background, deserves to have a good start in life. Peace of mind and quality preschool experience are two key goals we are fully committed to.
NFC’s also has a new vision. Tell us about that.
One of the things that we would like to be is to be the preschool of choice. We want to be a preschool that every family would want to be able to send their child to. To do that, we need to be able to do two things that we aspire. First, we must be very well-located geographically. We want to be in every Singapore neighbourhood. Second, we aspire to be of very high quality. We do not want to be just an ordinary preschool but one that sets the standards that can help to uplift the sector as a whole. By 2025, we aim to double the number of children enrolled in NFC from the current 16,000. We can be a thought and practice leader because we have certain strengths, such as childcare services and development of children who are in the younger age group from as young as two to three months, mother tongue language acquisition, and child support services to help families from lower-income group. We think we can build on these and share our knowledge with the rest of the industry.
With the growing needs – including manpower – in the early childhood care and education sector, what are NFC’s plans to attract and retain talents?
I believe that today, we have a reputation for being a progressive employer – one that pays attention to not just paying staff competitively but also taking care of their careers, creating opportunities for training, development and progression. Besides being a principal as the goal of a teacher’s career, we have also created other tracks and positions that staff can grow into. They can become a lead teacher or a deputy centre lead, or become a specialist within the network. Our teachers’ salaries have risen 36 per cent over the last five to seven years, and this is not just because of inflation. Their roles, skills and capabilities have also grown. To cater to the growing needs of the early childhood care and education sector, besides opening up two new centres this year, we will be setting up a new centre in Punggol next year, which can accommodate 1,000 children. This will be our biggest centre.
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NTUC First Campus
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