Singapore has been paying increased attention to pre-school education in recent years. The stepped-up attention to the early years stems from stronger public awareness of the importance of quality early childhood education in children’s learning and development. There is also a growing recognition that a long-term measure to combat social inequities is to offer children from less-advantaged homes with a good foundation for life-long learning and a good chance to succeed in life through quality pre-school education.
In 1999, MOE forged a policy framework to raise the quality of pre-school education in Singapore through judicious and measured involvement in high-leverage areas which will have a significant impact on future learning outcomes while retaining provision in the hands of the private sector. Under the policy framework, MOE has embarked upon various initiatives since 2000 which focused on defining desired outcomes, developing a curriculum framework, establishing systems and structures for teacher training, introducing self-appraisal for quality improvements, and enhancing school readiness of disadvantaged children.
The Desired Outcomes of Pre-school Education
In the last few years, there has been a general trend among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries (2001) to develop national pedagogical frameworks. This common framework is to ensure that children receive the same quality of learning across age groups and in diverse preschool settings. This will also support continuity in children’s learning from one stage to another. For example, children below the age of three will progress to the four to six-year-olds with little difficulty. Likewise, the transition for children from pre-schools to primary schools will also be smooth.
To ensure continuity of objectives and a smooth transition in learning from the pre-school years into the early primary school years, the Education Ministry issued a set of Desired Outcomes of Pre-school Education in 2000 that is aligned with the set of Desired Outcomes of Primary Education. The desired outcomes were put together carefully, in consultation with early childhood education professionals and practitioners and spell out what children should have acquired at the end of kindergarten education as follows:
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a)
Know what is right and what is wrong
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b)
Be willing to share and take turns with others
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c)
Be able to relate to others
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d)
Be curious and able to explore
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e)
Be able to listen and speak with understanding
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f)
Be comfortable and happy with themselves
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g)
Have developed physical co-ordination and healthy habits
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h)
Love their families, friends, teachers and school
The set of outcomes reflects values, dispositions and skills emphasizing the whole development of the child with focus on developing a happy and healthy child who is able to relate to others, communicate with others, and is curious and enthusiastic about learning. The Education Ministry explained that the desired outcomes were deliberately formulated to demonstrate that social and communication skills as well as positive dispositions are of significant importance and that pre-school education should be about preparing children for life-long learning, not just a preparation for the Primary One curriculum (Wong, 2000). It was reiterated that while basic competencies in reading, writing and arithmetic are important and should not be overlooked, the enduring effects of a child’s social and emotional competence are of even greater importance for the holistic development of a life-long learner.
A Kindergarten Curriculum Framework
Before 2003, Singapore’s pre-school education was perceived as preparation for primary school, hence, many kindergartens tended to focus on academic skills through a didactic teaching approach that put their children through repetitious exercises and worksheets. In contrast, pre-school education in western education systems has traditionally been play-based. Children’s spontaneous and imaginative play is organized constructively and purposefully through the use of songs, rhymes, stories, games and group activities. Children develop life-skills, problem-solving skills, creativity, and critical thinking through play, with minimal formalized structured programmes involved. As Singapore moves towards a knowledge-based economy, creativity and innovation are essential qualities required for success. In 2000, MOE embarked on a project to translate the desired outcomes into a curriculum framework with an aim to balance the provision of core knowledge with the need to nurture children’s creativity.
In January 2003, MOE published a curriculum framework, “Nurturing Early Learners: A Framework for a Kindergarten Curriculum in Singapore”. This curriculum framework is available to all kindergartens and child care centres, which are encouraged to use it as a guide to customise a suitable programme to meet the specific needs of their pupils. It seeks to lay a firm foundation for every child to engage in life-long learning through the integration of learning activities in the areas of aesthetics and creative expression, environmental awareness, language and literacy, motor skills development, numeracy, and self and social awareness. The framework recommends that early childhood educators adopt the “thematic approach” when designing their curriculum, where all learning is integrated around a theme or topic. The curriculum framework is also underpinned by six core early childhood education principles that are widely recognized as essential for children to learn well and gain confidence at an early age. It emphasizes the holistic development of children in a supportive environment that encourages exploration and discovery through play and interaction.
To support kindergartens that wish to adopt the curriculum framework, MOE has conducted workshops and seminars to equip early childhood educators with pedagogical knowledge and skills to implement the principles of the curriculum framework. In addition, MOE offers guidance to kindergartens and obtains feedback from the ground through consultation visits. The curriculum framework had also been disseminated to all teacher training agencies to enable them to align their teacher training courses with the curriculum principles. Developers of curriculum materials were also briefed to encourage the development of appropriate resources and materials that are consistent with the curriculum principles.
Framework for Teacher-training and Accreditation
The OECD report (2001) highlights that one of the key driving forces behind high quality early years education is high quality teacher training and a high level of professionalism in the early childhood workforce. According to Khoo (2004), in-service training for pre-school teachers in Singapore was ad hoc and brief when it was first introduced in the early 1970s. These teachers would normally undergo some basic and fundamental training programmes in pre-school teaching that ranged between 60 hours and 120 hours. In order to enhance the standards and ensure consistency of preschool teacher training, an inter-Ministerial Taskforce comprising representatives from MOE and MCYS, together with pre-school professionals and practitioners was formed in 2000 to develop a common training route for kindergarten and child care centre teachers and principals as well as an accreditation framework for the teaching and leadership training programmes.
In 2001, the new Pre-school Education Teacher Training and Accreditation Framework was jointly introduced by the Education Ministry and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). Under the new teacher-training framework, the minimum professional qualification for pre-school teachers is a Certificate in Pre-school Teaching (470 hours of training). All principals must complete 1200 hours of a two-tier diploma training to attain a Diploma in Pre-school Education-Teaching (700 hours) and a Diploma in Pre-school Education-Leadership (500 hours) by January 2006. In addition, MOE announced that by January 2008, one in four teachers must have a Diploma in Pre-school Education-Teaching and all other teachers must be at least certificate-trained.
To ensure quality standards and consistency in the training programmes provided by the various training agencies in meeting the new professional qualification requirements for the pre-school workforce, a Pre-school Qualification Accreditation Committee (PQAC) was jointly set up by MOE and MCYS to assess and approve training programme’s course content, modes of assessment, trainer qualifications, training facilities and resources (Ministry of Education, 2000). The Education Ministry also announced that government will assist eligible non-profit kindergartens to meet the stipulated teacher and principal qualification requirements through an annual recurrent grant (Ministry of Education, 2001). Under the new initiative, qualifying kindergartens will receive S$15,000 per diploma-trained teacher/principal and S$7,500 per certificate-trained teacher. The grants received were to be used to attract and retain better qualified professional staff through more attractive pay schemes and better support for kindergarten’s administration and teaching resources.
Continual Self-improvement
Besides having well-qualified and well-trained principals and teachers, kindergarten self-appraisal for quality improvement is another driving force behind high quality pre-school education. Self-evaluation usually forms part of a quality assurance framework that is put in place to ensure quality early years education. To encourage Singapore kindergartens to work towards continuous self-improvement, the Education Ministry has developed and disseminated an instrument called “Pursuing Excellence at Kindergartens” (PEAK) to all kindergartens in 2003. The self-appraisal tool aims to help kindergartens examine and analyze their programme and processes so as to think of more effective ways of delivering educational outcomes.
Framework to Enhance School Readiness of Pre-school Aged Children
Studies in the United States of America have shown that children who have a good start in their early education years display better motivation and are more likely to complete high school. Currently, the vast majority of parents in Singapore recognize the value of pre-school education. Over 95% of each cohort of Primary One children in Singapore have received formal pre-school education. Therefore, there is a small group of children who do not attend pre-school each year.
It is generally observed in Singapore that among children who did not attend pre-school, a higher proportion of children from lower-income families were not school ready (Zulkifli, 2006). Children from middle to higher income families, especially those from English-speaking backgrounds, are more likely to have received adequate home support to build their confidence in communicating in English. Conversely, children from lower income families, especially those from non-English speaking homes, would tend to lack such support. Given the benefits of pre-school education, it is therefore important for the government to get as many of the children from lower-income families as possible to participate in pre-school education in order to help level up opportunities early in life.
Starting from 2006, needy families who send their children to eligible non-profit kindergartens can apply for help under an enhanced Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) which subsidises 90% of the monthly fees or up to S$82 per month. For very needy families, a start-up grant of up to S$200 per child may also be provided to help them pay for their child’s registration fee, uniforms and insurance at the beginning of the school year starting from 2007. On top of KiFAS, several community-based organizations have also put in place a range of financial assistance schemes to help low-income families with the cost of sending their children to pre-school.
In March 2007 (Ministry of Education, 2007), MOE announced a framework to enhance school readiness of pre-school aged children through a targeted and three-pronged approach that involves:
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Identifying children with a weak language foundation, and providing focused language assistance while they are in pre-school;
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Identifying five-year-old children not attending pre-school, and making it possible for them to attend pre-school; and
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Identifying six-year-old children not attending pre-school during registration for Primary One, and encourage them to attend pre-school so as to gain exposure to the English Language and school socialization.
One of the initiatives under the framework is the introduction of a project called the Focused Language Assistance in Reading (FLAiR) in neighborhood kindergartens. Under the FLAiR project, selected second year kindergarten (K2) children would be provided with intensive assistance to help them in speaking, reading and other uses of English daily through dedicated time on a one-to-one basis or in small groups. In addition, MOE and MCYS are working with community-based organizations in conducting an outreach programme that focuses on reaching out to lower-income families who do not send their children to pre-school to encourage them to do so. To further reduce the number of children who do not attend pre-school, the Education Ministry has also started working with all primary schools in mid 2007 to identify children who are not attending preschool at the point of the Primary One registration exercise. Once identified, parents of these children will be assisted in obtaining places in pre-schools, where help will also be provided to the children to adjust to the learning environment.