PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION (Review)

Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh asked the Minister for Education (a) whether there has been a review on early education for the young under 6 years of age; (b) what are some of the critical findings; (c) what areas in our pre-school education require improvement; and (d) whether the Government will set up an Inter-Ministry Research and Action Task Force to identify changing needs and programmes in safeguarding quality and consistent standards among all pre-schools, irrespective of whether they are run by the Ministry of Community Development or by the Ministry of Education.

The Senior Minister of State for Education (Dr Aline K. Wong) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, a Steering Committee which is chaired by myself was set up in November last year to study how the quality of pre-school education in Singapore can be improved while retaining its provision in the hands of the private and the community sectors. As part of the review, a study will be conducted to ascertain the long-term impact of pre-school education on the future learning outcomes of a child.

The review on pre-school education has only just begun, and no findings are available yet.

There are a few high-leverage areas in pre-school education that have a significant impact on future learning outcomes. These include defining clear objectives for pre-school education, research, curriculum development and teacher-training. The Steering Committee will examine how MOE can make judicious investment in these areas to help improve pre-school education.

The Steering Committee on Pre-School Education is an inter-Ministry Committee, comprising representatives from MOE, MCD, as well as the National Institute of Education (NIE).

Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh (Nominated Member): Two supplementary questions. Looking at the figures that were given to me in a written answer by the Minister yesterday, the teacher-student ratio in MOE kindergartens is 1:51. In the MCD childcare centres, it is 1:12. Is the Minister addressing this uneven ratio? What measures can be adopted to improve the quality of care?

My second question is: MCD has announced a higher requirement for childcare personnel in October last year. Is this requirement applicable also to MOE kindergarten personnel? The Minister has said that she has just led a Steering Committee on teacher training programme and accreditation matters. Why are there two sets of guidelines? For the purpose of efficient management and consistency of standards in pre-school education, is it not possible to envisage setting up an agency with an over-arching authority to look into matters of child education so that all the childcare centres, whether it is under MOE or MCD, will have a consistent standard? Why set up an Inter-Ministry task force? Why not have one agency that is the over-arching body?

Dr Aline Wong: Mr Speaker, Sir, we are aware of the teacher-student ratio in pre-school centres being not at the optimal. One of the tasks of the Steering Committee is to look at how to improve pre-school education, where possible, by reducing class size. But I must emphasise that class size is not the only factor that goes into what defines good quality pre-school education. We will take a holistic picture of the problem. Yes, MCD has announced higher qualifications for its childcare centre supervisors to be effective within five years. So part of the Steering Committee's work is also to look into how we could raise the qualification requirement for kindergarten teachers and supervisors.

As to her question whether there should be one single agency to be in charge of childcare as well as pre-school education, for the moment I cannot think of an agency that should have such a narrow portfolio. It is best for us to work closely in coordination with MCD to see how the two sectors can be interlinked in a much more satisfactory or seamless manner. But I must also say that the requirements for childcare, even the training requirement, the philosophical and develop- mental aspects of children aged from 18 months to 3 years, are somewhat different from the requirements of children aged 3 years to 6 years. At the moment, these are under two different Ministries. We are looking into how we can coordinate and synchronise matters better.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, with regard to pre-school education, has the Ministry found the need to establish neighbourhood libraries for pre-schoolers to teach them to read at an early age?

Secondly, is there a problem in the teaching of English to children from non-English speaking families?

Dr Aline Wong: Sir, I think the question of neighbourhood libraries has been raised by Mr Chiam over and over again in the House. These are an extension of the National Library, and they are not exclusively for pre-school children. They are the combined effort of the National Library together with the Community Development Councils. So it is not really within the purview of the Ministry of Education.

To answer Mr Chiam's question whether there is any problem of teaching English to children coming from non-English speaking homes, given the linguistic background of the population, where some children come from English-speaking homes, and others from non English-speaking homes, there will always be a problem either way. As I said, one of the terms of reference of the Steering Committee is to look into the curriculum development. So we will see how our bilingual teaching can be improved in pre-school centres.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, I am not bringing up this issue of neighbourhood library to score a political point. I am talking strictly from the educational point of view. Has the Ministry discovered from the educational point of view whether there is a need to establish libraries that are close by and accessible to pre-schoolers to teach them to read? Is there such a finding?

Secondly, I understand that many children from non English-speaking families still do not master the English language at the end of their education in school. So this is a problem. Has the Ministry found out such a problem?

Dr Aline Wong: From the Ministry of Education's point of view, libraries, of course, are good things for children. We have not found out, in the sense of making in-depth studies, the language learning difficulties faced by children at the pre-school age. Hitherto, this sector has been under the private sector and the community sector. But this is also one of the issues the Committee will be looking at, through a pilot research study, and if Members are interested to know about this study, they could file some questions during the Committee of Supply.