The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said on Oct 10 that it will be introducing an outdoor learning training programme to further support pre-schools and educators in outdoor learning as part of the agency's efforts to improve the quality of their preschool programmes.
ECDA announced initiatives last year to build more outdoor learning spaces in HDB estates and parks as well as to provide early childhood educators with resources and training to conduct outdoor learning.
With the support of Temasek Foundation, ECDA will introduce an outdoor learning training programme to further support preschools and educators in outdoor learning this year.
According to ECDA, this includes organising peer sharing sessions where early childhood educators can share their experiences in conducting outdoor learning, and advanced training courses for educators and trainers.
The programme will also provide an Outdoor Learning Resource Fund to support selected centres to implement outdoor learning, and carry out a study to evaluate the programme’s effectiveness.
According to ECDA, the Outdoor Learning Resource Fund which can be used to purchase additional teaching and learning resources to aid in preschools’ implementation of outdoor learning, will be launched in early 2021.
Details on how centres can participate, including the application process, will be released to the sector later this year.
Aside from outdoor learning programmes, ECDA will expand the KidSTART programme to support more children from low-income families.
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Intended to support needy children aged zero to six, KidSTART currently benefits more than 1,000 children from low-income families in Singapore. The programme was recently expanded to Woodlands and Bedok earlier this year.
From 20201, EDCA will extend KidSTART to more eligible families in Yishun, Sembawang and Ang Mo Kio and will eventually provide help to another 5,000 children over the next three years.
Currently, the KidSTART regions are at Kreta Ayer/Bukit Merah, Taman Jurong/Boon Lay, Bedok/Geylang Serai, and Woodlands.
The monthly household income ceiling to be eligible for KidSTART is $2,500, a rise from $1,900 previously.
Early childhood educators will also get more support from EDCA to develop their skills and enhance career progression.
EDCA will review the Skills Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), and develop a roadmap for educators’ professional development.
In tandem with SkillsFuture Singapore, ECDA will reviewing the job roles and career pathways in the ECCE Skills Framework to better guide educators on skills upgrading and career development opportunities.
The revised ECCE Skills Framework will guide preschools in its HR management and talent development initiatives as well as enable training providers to modify their training programmes to suit the needs of the early childhood sector.
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The skills and career pathways for Learning Support Educators (LSEds) and Early Intervention Teachers in the revised ECCE Skills Framework, will also be set out by ECDA.
Said ECDA: “This addition underscores the importance of the stronger partnership between Early Childhood and Early Intervention educators as we strive to make our preschools more inclusive.
“The revised framework will also steer greater harmonisation of training programmes to facilitate the movement of Early Childhood educators and Early Intervention educators across different career pathways.”
More details on the refreshed ECCE Skills Framework will be announced in the second half of 2021.
Alongside the review of the ECCE Skills Framework, ECDA will also develop a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Roadmap to help guide early childhood educators’ professional development, and more details will be released in 2021.
ECDA is also working with the National Institute for Early Childhood Development (NIEC) to deepen the focus on inclusive practices in both pre-service and in-service training courses.
“This will help to strengthen EC educators’ capabilities to care for children with diverse learning needs in their classrooms,” it said.
This article was first published in theAsianparent.