By Shukry Rashid
Singapore’s current birth rate may be low but demand for early childhood (EC) education is fast expanding. Since 2013, the number of child care places have mushroomed to 40,000, almost double the target set by the Government.
The number of teachers in this sector also rose from 14,000 in 2014 to 16,000 today. Singapore is expected to need a total of 20,000 by 2020.
In order to meet the rising manpower needs of this sector, the EC Manpower Plan was launched by Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin during the second day of the two-day EC Conference on 1 October 2016.
Mr Tan said: “The goal of the manpower plan is to create meaningful and rewarding careers for our teachers, and in turn, quality care and education for our children. The plan also articulates a desired vision for the EC profession.”
Part of the SkillsFuture movement, the EC Manpower Plan is a joint effort by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) employers, training institutions and the Education Services Union (ESU).
Skills Framework
The manpower plan also consists of the Skills Framework for EC Care and Education, which spells out enhanced and flexible career progression pathways in the sector.
The pathways explain 210 specific skills and competencies required under the Educarer, Teacher and Leader tracks as well as relevant education and training programmes. A total of 13 occupations make up these three tracks.
Starting from 2017 and in line with the spirit of SkillsFuture, in-service educators who want to upgrade will be assessed on competencies and experience instead of just academic qualifications. Interviews and employer recommendations will also be taken into consideration.
ESU Executive Secretary and NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Ang Hin Kee – who is on the EC sectoral tripartite committee – said: “ESU has pushed for recognition of prior work experience and we are glad to see the inclusion of this criteria in the new career pathways for experienced EC Educarers. A skills- and competency-based approach will translate into better career opportunities for Educarers.”
According to an ECDA spokesperson, over 1,000 teaching assistants currently in the sector could benefit from this flexible upgrading initiative.
From now, all EC educator training courses will be made available in the Place-and-Train (P&T) mode for mid-career entrants. Interested entrants can also make use of WDA’s Professional Conversion Programmes to undergo training in the sector while earning a salary.
Tapping on Technology
The SMART Solutions initiative was also announced to enable a more productive environment for educators through technology.
This initiative hopes to reduce administrative burden for educators so that more effort can be put into areas that are more important.
Currently, the Association of Early Childhood and Training Services (ASSETS) is working with ECDA and Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore to identify technology solutions to aid pre-schools in their day-to-day operations and administrative duties. These include attendance, collecting and maintaining student records, temperature taking and communications with parents.
Preschools can tap up to 70 per cent of Government funding per solution.
Source: NTUC This Week
