International Contacts Alternative – Part 3



As I have yet to hear from any international contacts, I explored UNESCO’s “Early Child Care and Education” website at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/.  During this exploration I found the article Inter-Ministerial Collaboration in Early Childhood Training in Singapore written by Khoo Kim Choo in 2004.  In this article I learned that the Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS) and Ministry of Education (MOE) both support early childhood education and care; however most programs fall under the MCDS.  Childcare that falls under MCDS has state-subsidized with assistance for poor children.  MOE supports preschool serving ages 4-6 their program ranges from 2-4 hours.  These programs has a preschool fees that are lower than childcare, but they do not offer state-subsidized; however financial assistance is available.  Ninety-nine percent of children in primary one (grade 1) had attended at least one year if not two or three in preschool under MOE or MCDS.  In the early 1970s in-service training was ad hoc and brief only 60 hours; however as the years went by the program was extended to 90 hours then to 120 hours.  Preschool teachers trailed behind childcare teachers during this time.  Preschool qualification Accreditation Committee (PQAC) came up with three levels of training for both sectors leading to a Certification in Preschool Teaching which is 470 hours, Diploma in Preschool Education Teaching which is 700 hours, and Diploma in Preschool Education Leadership which is 500 hours.

            I continued to explore UNESCO’s “Early Child Care and Education” website and found multiple articles concerning access to early childhood programs, as well as quality in early childhood.  All of these articles were written in 2002-2004 so most of the information that was gathered came from the late 90’s early 2000s.  I learned from the article Access, Public Investment, and Equity in ECCE: The Nexus in Nine High-Population Countries that “In 1993, the heads of state and government of nine high-population countries – Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan – launched the E-9 Initiative aimed at achieving concrete progress in basic education” (Choi, 2004, para 1).  I also learned that these countries hold 55 percent of the world’s population of children 14 and younger.  “The average proportion of this age group in the countries is shrinking, from 35% in 2001 to a projected 30% in 2015; and the fertility rate is also declining, from 5.8 (1970-75) to 3.2 (2000-5), per woman. Overall population growth in E-9 countries is projected to be 1.5% by 2015 compared with 2.1% in 1975-2001” (Choi, 2004, para. 2). 

            With the decrease and expected decrease in children I wonder if that is part of the reason that early childhood is getting left out on services that they need.  I also wonder if this age group is rising faster than the expectations due to immigration.  I know that expectations for preschool teachers have risen since these articles and that the quality of early childhood education and care has risen however the equity still needs improvements.

Resources:

Choi, S. (2004). Access, public investment, and equity in ECCE: The Nexus in nine high-population countries. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved from  http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001374/137408e.pdf

Choo, K. (2004). Inter-ministerial collaboration in early childhood training in Singapore. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001374/137413e.pdf