As part of the Labour Movement’s progressive wage model, teachers and centre attendants in the early childhood education sector enjoy better pay and career progression through boosting productivity and upgrading skills. Today, the Education Cluster joined hands with industry partners and government agencies such as the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency, as well as NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) to share plans to boost pay, recruitment and retention.
Industry Potential
Since 2008, close to 240 more childcare centres have been set up with more than 75,000 children enrolled. With the number of childcare centres expected to reach more than 1,000 within the next year, career opportunities in early childhood care and education will continue to grow.
More than 800 positions will be open at this year’s Early Childhood Career Fair, organised by NTUC's SEED Institute, to individuals who are passionate about working with young children. They will join more than 11,000 teachers, educarers and centre leaders currently in the childcare sector.
Building Bridges
For teachers, there are clear pathways to upgrade so that they can progress and earn better pay. For some, they may not meet the qualifying requirements to access the necessary upgrading courses. They will receive help to bridge the gaps so that they can climb up the wage ladder. Even the centre attendants will receive assistance to enhance their productivity and pay. With an improved image and better prospects, more job seekers are also keen to consider a career in this sector. There will also be more help for them to access these opportunities.
Bridge 1: Help to meet higher entry criteria
For teachers who want to move up and be able to teach a higher level, they will need to attain higher qualifications. There are existing funding schemes to help them access the necessary training programmes.
For teachers who want to earn a better pay, they can choose to teach children aged 5 & 6 (K1 & K2). In order to do that, they need to have B4 in EL1 and Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education-Teaching (DECCE-T).
Those who need to meet B4 in EL1 can also opt for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) 6.5 equivalent. Since 2010, e2i has assisted 90 through the IELTS route. Through additional outreach efforts by the cluster, e2i hopes to enable all 350 pre-school teachers to meet this requirement so that they can move up the ladder and be emplaced to teach K1 and K2 classes through its funding and outreach efforts. Teacher can receive 70 per cent subsidy for the course fee and 50 per cent subsidy for the test. At today’s event, some 40 teachers will be briefed on the details of this programme.
Bridge 2: Alternative entry pathway for new entrants and upgrading opportunities for ECCE teachers
Over the next three years, more than 4,000 training places will be offered under WDA’s Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) programmes. The increase in training places aims to support the growing manpower needs of the ECCE sector.
The slew of WSQ ECCE programmes provide progression pathways for current ECCE teachers to acquire the required qualifications as well as offer alternative pathways for aspiring ECCE professionals.
The Workplace Literacy and Numeracy (WPLN) series under the WSQ system provides an alternative entry route from ‘O’ level academic results. Individuals keen to work with younger children will soon be able to access new professional certification courses to embark on career as Para-Educators and Early Years Educarers. Funding support will be available for aspiring and existing ECCE professionals to enrol for these courses.
MCYS and WDA offer a range of scholarships for ECCE professionals. MCYS has enhanced scholarships to include full-time and degree courses in early childhood, to attract new entrants to the sector. For teachers aspiring to take up leadership roles as Centre Supervisors or Principals, scholarships are now available for part-time diploma in early childhood (Leadership) courses. WDA is also offering scholarships for teachers to pursue degree programmes to deepen their ECCE knowledge and skills in areas such as business management, Chinese language teaching pedagogy and development of young children. In total, about 600 scholarships and teaching awards are available to the sector in the next two years.
In-service ECCE professionals can also develop their T-shaped capabilities through the WSQ Specialist Diploma in ECCE and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes in the areas of mentoring, special needs and leadership. On-site-bite-size programmes are available to facilitate ECCE professional upgrading, bring training closer to the centres to cater to those who find it challenging to take time off to attend training. The above programmes will be delivered by WDA’s appointed Continuing Education and Training (CET) centre, SEED Institute and other ECCE programme partners. MCYS and WDA will share more on initiatives to support teachers and employers in the area of professional development, later in the year.
Bridge 3: Employment Assistance
At today’s Early Childhood Career Fair 2012, the tripartite partners are working together to offer over 800 positions for new entrants into this industry. Furthermore, SEED Institute has started a job portal (http://www.stjobs.sg/seedingjobs) since June 2012 for new entrants to provide an overview of the industry, information on upcoming recruitment fairs and previews on training courses. The portal also seeks to help them with job-matching opportunities with participating employers.
Bridge 4: Up Productivity, Up Pay
The Education Cluster is also paying attention to another group of workers who play a big role in the daily operations of childcare centres and kindergartens. These are the centre attendants who mainly made up of the lower-wage workers.
Centre attendants are usually the ones who serve as cooks or cleaners or sometimes even handling both. It is estimated there are about 2,000 such attendants working in the various centres in Singapore with many earning about $900 a month.
To help them raise their pay, the Cluster wants to work with childcare operators to see what kinds of intervention can be introduced. For a start, it hopes to help 1,000 such attendants improve their productivity and pay by 2013.
More than 250 Centre Attendants to benefit from productivity improvements
At the cluster launch today, the example of NTUC First Campus Co-operative Limited (NFC) was showcased where its centre attendants can earn a better pay through productivity, better equipment and work process improvements. Supported by the Labour Movement’s Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP), NFC is piloting the installation of bigger commercial stand-alone stainless steel sink tables and flexible hose pull-out taps in its childcare centres so as to reduce the time taken to wash dishes and bigger kitchenware. As a result, from July 2012, more than half of the centre attendants will be getting a pay rise of more than 10 per cent. The entry pay will also be raised by 11 per cent to $1,110.
