The pre-school sector is set to get a major lift in funding with the government committing over $3 billion over the next five years, more than double the amount it had been spending previously.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam highlighted this when delivering his budget speech on 25 February 2013, adding that they will bring in more operators onto the Anchor Operator (AOP) scheme. This will result in 16,000 additional places in AOPs by 2017.
The government will also increase salary grants to the AOPs so that all their pre-school teachers will be graduates or diploma holders, up from 80% today, to ensure a quality pre-school sector.
The sector can also look forward to support such as curriculum and teaching guides, upgrading for teachers through scholarships and training grants and structured training and career development.
The Government plans to establish a new autonomous agency, the Early Childhood Development Agency, to drive improvements across the entire pre-school sector.
The will be overseen by Ministry of Education and Ministry of Social and Family Development.
NTUC First Campus (NFC) Co-operative Limited, which currently operates 114 childcare centres across Singapore and plans to set up about 15 centres in 2013, welcomed the news, saying it signals an important shift in how society values early childhood education.
“We strongly agree that quality pre-school education can be a great social leveler. Towards this end, My First Skool intends to reserve 15 per cent of our places for children from less privileged families – those with an income of less than $3,500,” said Chief Executive Officer Chan Tee Seng of NFC.
NFC plans to strengthen its outreach to these families, aiming to have a good mix of children from different social backgrounds in their centres.
The pre-school operator added it was heartened to see more grants and scholarships being offered to upgrade Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) professionals.
“The introduction of more training incentive schemes should help reduce the barriers to entry for individuals who currently lack the requisite qualifications. We believe it is time that people look upon a possible career in the ECCE sector differently,” added Mr Chan.
