The recent announcement by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the National Day Rally to create an additional 30% or 40,000 more preschool places in the next five years is welcomed news for mothers who wish to enter the workforce to supplement their family income. Kidz Meadow Childcare and Development Centres, which are at five locations across the island, have been struggling to manage parents’ anxiety to get a childcare slot for their children who have been put on the waitlist for at least half a year.

It takes a minimum of six months for a medium-sized childcare centre, catering to 100 students, to be built, furnished and cleared for licensing by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). Getting sufficiently-trained teachers in Early Childhood (EC) is also an issue that has been plaguing the industry for years. With the short supply of trained EC practitioners in the industry, retaining staff will continue to pose a challenge especially for smaller scale operators like Kidz Meadow.

Recruiting more trained teachers to commence operations at new licensed centres will be an uphill task for even the bigger operators. To provide 8,000 preschool places per year may mean the creation of more mega-centres that can take up to 1,000 students per year. This is where the government can continue to support the capability-building of not just the ECDA Anchor Operators but also trusting the Partner Operators and large preschool consortiums to expand their centres’ capacity.

MORE MOE-RUN KINDERGARTENS IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS
Kindergartens and small-scale childcare operators are already feeling the business impact of being in close proximity to MOE Kindergartens (MKs). With an addition of 35 more MKs, this may pose real business challenges to such operators in terms of maximising class enrolment and recruiting trained teachers in the tight labour market. For sole proprietors with one to two centres, it becomes imperative for them to improve the quality and affordability of their preschool programmes as parents will now have more convenient and affordable choices of quality MKs within walking distance from their homes.

Will having more MKs serve to divide the preparatory abilities of the students upon them entering Primary 1? Will there be a situation where parents will avoid sending their children to other centres and prefer to be on the MKs waitlist? Will this mean more closures of centres that can no longer stay afloat financially due to lower enrolment brought about by parents who transfer their children to an MK?

Supposedly, only the fittest will survive, and these moves will only encourage preschool operators to step up and invest time and effort to enhance the quality of their programme and teaching staff, which in the long run, will benefit the preschoolers to prepare them for primary school education.

From a business perspective, we may expect to see more business mergers and formation of consortiums amongst operators with one to two centres to create better economies of scale, shared expertise and resources and in the long run, more affordable programme fees for working parents. I see this expansion as a long-term move to enhance the quality of the entire preschool education in Singapore.

A NEW CENTRALISED TRAINING INSTITUTE
Having a centralised training institute will yield several benefits in terms of consolidation of academic expertise, shared resources and having sufficient learning demand to develop a more specialised curriculum. With a national qualification, accreditation for early childhood courses will be more reputable for use in Singapore and potentially, overseas. With the availability of training grants, it will help to cover transport and meal allowances for teachers who are undergoing training. This stimulus will help defray some of the incidental costs incurred by the learning adults. Due to the variety of educational opportunities made available for educators, we have seen very keen interest amongst staff to upgrade their skills to remain relevant in the preschool industry.

The role of the employer doesn’t stop at just sponsoring staff for skills upgrading. It is a multi-pronged approach to support their learning including recruiting additional staff who will manage students while the teachers take time off work daily or a few times per week to attend their classes. This will mean additional manpower costs incurred by employers which is offset by the staff absentee payroll (Absentee Payroll (AP) funding is a grant to help employers defray the manpower costs incurred when they send their employees for certifiable skills training during working hours).

Bearing in mind that staff will also require time to complete written assignments and project work, employers may also consider giving them examination leave to give them time to submit quality assignments and to better prepare for their written examinations. A typical certificate or diploma programme will include a duration for practicum sessions in a licensed preschool or childcare centre. Again, this means taking teachers away from their regular work responsibilities to accord them time to complete the practicum and supervision sessions. Supporting teachers to upgrade their skills involves more than just training sponsorship but also the various manpower support to allow them the space and time to go for classes and complete their assignments which may stretch for 12 months and more.

While it is all a worthy initiative to encourage more people to work in the preschool industry with the government’s efforts to help in skills upgrading and career growth, preschool operators should also look into creating a better work-life balance for preschool educators. Most educators are working mothers themselves and they face real struggles managing work and family while attending skills upgrading classes. Moreover, with the move for preschool centres to achieve the Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework (SPARK) and teachers preparing and executing effective classroom lesson plans during the day, one can only imagine the amount of work pressure that the educators have to cope with.

This is where preschool employers play a more crucial role in supporting the drive to retain the educators in the industry and propel their career growth. By allowing flexible work hours, shorter working hours and granting leave of absence for furthering their studies, this will better motivate the teachers to complete their learning and at the same time, balance their work and family commitments. The government has a noble aim to eventually accord preschool educators the same recognition and respect as teachers in MOE-registered schools. However, it is pertinent to compare the differences in how the preschools and MOE primary schools operate.

Childcare centres are allowed only six days of centre closure, and run on a 5.5-day operation each week. Childcare centres typically open from 7am to 7pm on Mondays to Fridays and 7am to 2pm every Saturday. Teachers clock in 8-hour work shifts including working on alternate Saturdays or 1 Saturday a month, with an average of 14 days of paid annual leave.

While MOE teachers are granted a 5-day work week with gazetted school holidays, preschool teachers in childcare centres do not enjoy these perks. Preschool operators support the government’s aim to get more mothers to enter the workforce and also expand the network of childcare services in Singapore but they have to do more for preschool educators in order to match the benefits that MOE teachers enjoy. If the government and relevant agencies are serious about supporting working mothers and passionate educators who wish to contribute to the economy, providing a good welfare scheme for preschool educators is the way to go. ⬛

Salhawaty Abdul Ghani is the General Manager of MERCU Learning Point Pte Ltd, where she has worked for 16 years. MERCU Learning Point is a private education centre owned by AMP and runs one kindergarten, five childcare centres and ten student care centres in Singapore.