Being a parent has changed me in ways I had never imagined.
Instead of eagerly awaiting the release of the latest iPhone, I look out for promotions on baby diapers, wet wipes and if a vacancy will open up at a childcare centre near home. Neither fun nor glamorous, parenting is exhausting and trying. When I had my firstborn, I felt I had fallen headfirst into a nightmare – a land of soiled diapers and sleepless nights.
After some years of trudging on and trying to regain my footing (and sanity), I am better able to pore over current events, like the National Day rally. As you can guess, the proposed changes and improvements to the education system piqued my interest.
I am glad to see initiatives to improve preschool education, like the creation of 40,000 new places in preschool, centralised training for preschool educators as well as improving the salaries of preschool professionals.
Despite our declining birth rates, demand for childcare places is increasing. In 2015, 75.9% of married couples where the husband was aged below 35 years were dual-career1, and it stood at 69.1% for couples with husbands aged 35 to 49 years old. This was an increase from 70.7% and 59.6% in 2010 respectively. With an increasing number of households where both parents are working, it is expected that there will be an increased demand for places in preschools and childcare centres.
Besides the quantity of places, perhaps equally or more important is the quality. To help children who are trailing behind, learning intervention programmes such as KidSTART and FLAiR (Focused Language Assistance in Reading) have been rolled out to help bridge the gap. It is hoped that there could be greater reach for such programmes, and for it to be extended to private preschool centres as well.
However, with compulsory education only starting at Primary One, there will still be children who do not attend preschool. While some might be homeschooled, there are those who do not attend for a host of other reasons. Then there is the issue of children who are enrolled in preschool but do not attend regularly – recent statistics show that over 90% of Singapore children aged five to six years were enrolled in preschool, and close to 99% of six-year-old Singapore children would have “some preschool experience”2. The high enrolment rates are not reflective of the poor attendance rates of children from disadvantaged homes3. These children who are likely to come from low-income, non-English speaking families, will be further disadvantaged when they go to primary school and the gap widens with their peers, some of whom besides attending preschool, would have benefitted from enrichment programmes.
THE ROLE OF PARENTS
More support can be made available to help these children, and that support might need to be directed at the parents. Some years ago, I attended a meeting to set up a Parent School, which I thought (and still think) is a genius idea. Most times, I am clueless as to how to parent and whether I am doing the right thing. I remember thinking how much simpler it is to be able to drive than to be a parent – one has to pass a series of tests to be able to drive a motor vehicle in Singapore, ensuring that the driver has all the necessary know-how before being bestowed with the responsibility of driving on the roads.
Parenting a child, too, is a huge responsibility which bears serious consequences if not executed correctly. While it is not feasible to decide who should be allowed to be parents, what we can perhaps do is to help new parents by having crash courses on parenting.
Last year, I attended a course on teaching children how to read. I learnt much more than simply how to teach a child how to read. I knew the importance of language and communication, but I had been oblivious as to just how much it impacts a child’s future academic performance and success. Simply put, a child who does not get exposed much to language (be it the English language or Mother Tongue language), is at a disadvantage. Ideally, the learning journey and exposure to rich language should start at home. But not all parents know how to help their children. Hence, intervention programmes targeted at parents will help them at the very least to gain understanding of the importance of early childhood education, before they can help their children (or seek help for them).
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS FINALLY GET ACKNOWLEDGED
The second issue raised, about providing better remuneration to early childhood educators is long overdue. These teachers do the tough job of teaching, nurturing, nursing and parenting our children while we are at work. Picking up my children from the childcare centre years ago, the teachers will share what my son ate, the activities he partook in, how much milk he drank, his naptime, diaper changing time, and so on. They are responsible for so much, had to spend years training to be a professional in their field, not get to enjoy school holidays as other teachers do, and at times, are faced with difficult parents. To top it off, they are grossly underpaid. In fact, it was one of the reasons I had to reconsider my decision to teach in a preschool, unfortunately.
Hopefully with the government setting up a centralised training institute for early childhood educators, they can level the benefits for early childhood educators to that of MOE teachers. Research has shown that early childhood educators in Singapore are underpaid and there are high turnover rates in the industry4. Such factors “impact(s) quality primarily by preventing qualified and committed individuals from considering working in childcare or early education in the first place” (Manlove and Guzell, 1997). The high turnover rates (Moon and Burbank, 2004) affect children’s language and socio-emotional development as well as the relationships they form with their teachers (Whitebook 2002; Torquati 2007). The low salaries also lead to the perception that working in the early childhood education sector is not a high-status profession (Ackerman, 2006)5.
CHANGES TO SPECIAL NEEDS SECTOR
Finally, I was hoping that there would be mention of developments to education for special needs children. Parents with special needs children who are cognitively sound and capable of academic learning, but are faced with other challenges such as behavioural and socialisation issues, for example, children with high-functioning autism, might face issues when trying to find schooling options for their children. Given that the number of children with developmental and other issues in Singapore is on the rise, the needs of these children should not be overlooked.
Undeniably, Singapore has a well thought out education system that does provide options for the special community. However, there is only one special school that offers a mainstream curriculum in a special setting in Singapore today, which will allow the children to sit for national examinations. It is incredibly hard and stressful trying to get our special children a place in such a school. More options for early intervention as well as government-initiated enrichment and co-curricular programmes catered to special children will help them in their overall development and learning, as well as getting them the opportunity to enjoy music, sports and arts like other children.
It would also be beneficial to have more inclusive preschools where both neurotypical and special needs children can study alongside each other, and that provides early intervention for the special needs children. Currently, only Kindle Garden, run by non-profit AWWA provides this, and charges an arm, a leg and a kidney for its school feels (fees for full-day childcare will be increased to $1,880 a month from next January). The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has announced plans to build an “Inclusive Preschool”.
Such inclusive preschools are win-win, where neurotypical children can get to better understand their peers with special needs. The children with mild to moderate special needs learn to integrate with others, and should they be enrolled in a mainstream primary school later on, they will be familiar with the setting, class sizes and expected behaviours related to a normal classroom.
I am optimistic that the education sector in Singapore will continue to improve and develop. What could be a better investment and reward for ourselves, than to ensure our children receive a well-rounded education, and are accorded the same opportunities to learn and achieve their dreams? ⬛
1 “General Household Survey 2015, Key Findings, 2015”, P36. Department of Statistics, 2015, 36. Retrieved, 11 September 2017 from: https://www.singstat.gov.sg
2 Statistics on Children Who Have Not Attended Pre-School. Ministry of Social and Family Development, Singapore, 2016. Retrieved, 11 September 2017: https://www.msf.gov.sg
3 “The Big Read: Educators Flag Absentee Rate Of Children of Low-Income Families as A Concern”. Today Online Singapore, August 1, 2015. http://www.todayonline.com
4 Ang, Lynn. “Vital Voices For Vital Years,” Lien Foundation2012,16. Retrieved from: http://www.lienfoundation.org
5 “Encouraging Quality In Early Childhood Education And Care, ” OECD, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.oecd.org/education/school/49322250.pdf
When she is not trying to chase after her three boys, Sharifah Norashikin is passionate about issues relating to women and family, parenting, and education (both mainstream and special needs). Her hopes are for greater inclusivity in society, where each person is given opportunity to excel and live a fulfilling life; and to eat as much cake as one wants without gaining weight (nor developing diabetes).
