Singapore Preschool Education: Government or Private?

Today, I read an interesting article about the difference between Private
and Government kindergartens. It was from the Straits Times, published 27
January 2007, Saturday, in the SATURDAY section. It was called the Kindergarten
Express by Ho Ai Ling and Jane Ng. It delves into the question: "Why are less
and less people going to the PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Kindergarten?" The
article is attached below. The review will be in another post as the articles is
very long.

Article:

PRESCHOOL REVOLUTIONThe lucrative preschool industry, which draws 40,000 new pupils a year, isriding a wave of change as parents seek more progressive and creativeprogrammes. Ho Ai Li and Jane Ng reportHOUSEWIFE Kabparvathy Prakash used to go past the PAP Community Foundation(PCF) kindergarten near her Tampines home, and did not like what she saw.She told herself that when the time came, she would not enrol her son anddaughter there.“The groups were so big, with 30 in a class. I felt my children would not getmuch attention from the teacher,” said Mrs Prakash, 45, whose husband is asenior engineer.So she shelled out $320 a month to send her children to a kindergarten run bythe Soka Association, one bus stop away from their home.The fees were three times what she would have paid at the PCF preschool, butshe was convinced it was worthwhile because the Soka preschool had a morecreative syllabus and more staff, with two teachers to a class of 20.“I wanted the children to spend kindergarten doing more fun things like goingon outings and creative play and I don’t think PCF offers enough of that,” saidMrs Prakash, whose children are now eight and six.More parents share her views, and have drifted away from the PCF centres overthe years.A decade ago, 75per cent of all preschoolers enrolled in the PCF centres. Thefigure fell to 67per cent last year.It used to be that a PCF kindergarten was the obvious choice for heartlandparents. With a network across Singapore, the centres were convenient, chargedlow fees, and carried a trusted brand name.Madam Esther Liang, 57, a former bank officer, did not think twice aboutsending her two daughters, now 27 and 25, to a PCF kindergarten. All herfriends and colleagues did so back then, when private kindergartens were fewand expensive.“It was near home and convenient, as my husband and I were working,” she said.Over the years, however, better-educated parents have become more aware ofpreschool education issues, and experts have not let up on criticisingrote-learning methods.PCF parents themselves began complaining, saying things such as PCF childrenwere bogged down by homework, there were too many tests, and practising thealphabet and copying out words and sentences improved their penmanship butmeant little to them. They were also not creative and could not answeropen-ended questions put to them. They did not seem to have much fun.The list went on.Even the People’s Action Party organ, Petir, in an article last year dubbed thePCF “a lightning rod for criticism”.The writing has been on the wall for some years now.The quality of teachers was one key area where improvement was needed.Data released four years ago showed that only one in 10 teachers in PCFpreschools had a diploma in early childhood education and three in 10 had acertificate. Many did not speak proper English either.On the other hand, private preschools like Pat’s Schoolhouse appeared on thescene, with teachers who were university graduates and diploma holders, and whospoke well.Even popular mass market chains like Learning Vision had better-qualifiedteachers than the PCF.Quality has paid off for the private operators.Pat’s Schoolhouse, which started 20 years ago with one kindergarten, now has 10centres. Learning Vision has grown from 20 centres five years ago to 27 now.For the PCF, the signs pointed to the need to up quality in terms of teacherqualifications, teaching methods and the programme itself.Its teachers have been sent for upgrading. Today, 86per cent of the 1,800teachers in 266 PCF centres hold a certificate or a diploma. Some are beaveringaway at their bachelor’s or master’s degree.The syllabus and programmes have been changed radically too.If Mrs Prakash peeked into many PCF centres today, she would see a verydifferent scene.Where worksheets and homework once held sway, the new buzzwords are “learnthrough play”. Pupils get togged up in costumes, pretend to do householdchores, and traipse around the neighbourhood to explore their surroundings.As the dominant provider of preschool education, PCF is also customising itsprogrammes to suit different needs.In more affluent towns like Tampines and Pasir Ris, it has found solid demandfor premium programmes that cost more.For the seven PCF centres in Pasir Ris GRC, teachers have been trained byspeech and drama specialist Julia Gabriel in what is called the Spiceprogramme.For $145 a month – $50 more than the usual programme – children receive an hourof speech and drama training a week. They are also in smaller classes of 24,down from 32 or more before.For speech and drama sessions, the children break up into groups of 12,allowing for greater interaction and participation.Miss Ng Lay Hua, who heads the PCF’s Pasir Ris centres, said the response hadbeen overwhelming.She had planned for each centre to have no more than one premium class out ofsix to 10 at each centre, but had to convert half her enrolment into premiumclasses.“Within a short period, we could see a difference. Children are not so timid ina small group. They have more opportunity to express themselves. They are moreconfident, they speak up and are very lively,” she said. A real buzzTHE transformation of PCF kindergartens reflects the wave of change that hasseized the preschool landscape here, an industry that attracts around 40,000new pupils every year.There are 488 kindergartens registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE),ranging from the PCF network to those run by non-profit religious organisationsand commercial companies. Fees range from about $80 to $800 a month for athree- to four-hour programme.Without going after them with a stick, MOE has provided a curriculum forkindergartens and a checklist for kindergartens to appraise themselves.Together with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS),it has also set minimal standards for preschool teachers. For example, by nextyear, one in four teachers in a preschool must have at least a diploma.The result, say most of the preschool principals and experts interviewed, is areal buzz in the preschool scene here. Professional standards have risen, andearly childhood education is gaining more acceptance as a career of choice.Teachers juggle work and studies, attending night classes at one of the 23early childhood education centres which have sprung up to meet their trainingneeds.Industry-wide, the percentage of principals with diplomas in leadership hasgone from 6.2per cent in 2003 to 70.3per cent last year.Preschool diploma and degree qualifications are offered mainly by privateschools here, with Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Institute of Management(SIM) the only mainstream institutions to do so. Teachers need at least three Olevels to study for a certificate in preschool teaching and five O levels for adiploma.The PCF loses about 20per cent of its teachers each year, but Ms Ruth Low, itschief executive, sees the positive side of things.Whereas previously they would have quit teaching, PCF teachers are now leavingto join other preschools. It shows there is a demand for early childcareteachers and for better-quality PCF teachers as well, she said.Ms Chan Lin Ho, director of RTRC-Asia, the regional training arm of NTUCChildcare, notes that about 400 people – 250 degree holders and 140 withmaster’s degrees – have been trained under programmes run by RTRC in the pastfour years.She said: “There are now more qualified teachers in the preschool educationfield. This speaks a lot about their passion because they pay for theirtraining from their own pockets.”A degree in early childhood education can cost about $16,000.Ms Jacqueline Chung, principal of St James Church kindergarten, summed it uplike this: “The early childhood scene has never been so vibrant.” No child’s playALTHOUGH overall standards have gone up, improvements are uneven across theboard.The Straits Times visited several preschools, both private or run by the PCF.Most boasted learning corners, small groups and project work.But you still see teachers teaching unimaginatively and, in some classes,children who appear listless.Senior PCF consultant Denise Chan was candid about the varying standards in itskindergartens. She estimated that four in 10 centres have not implemented thenew programmes well.She added that it will take time for seasoned teachers to change their mindsetsand methods and embrace the change.One of the most common complaints levelled against many PCF teachers is theirpoor command of English. To address the problem, MOE is planning Englishproficiency courses for kindergarten teachers.RTRC-Asia’s Ms Chan believes standards will rise in time, when more teachersupgrade themselves.She said: “When older teachers who may not have the necessary Englishqualifications retire, and younger ones who are linguistically proficient takeover, standards will naturally be raised.”Ms Low believes it is only a matter of time before everyone is on par.“There is a little unevenness as the centres develop at different rates, buteveryone is headed in the same direction,” she said. “We are giving them a lotof support, no matter which level of development they are at.”As for how parents view the quality at PCF kindergartens, she said: “Everybodyexperiences PCF in their own way. We know the large majority we cater to arevery happy.“Most important, many low-income parents are very appreciative of what weprovide for their children.”Indeed, if not for the PCF, many Singapore children would never have been topreschool.It opened centres in the heartland and kept fees low so most parents couldafford to send their children to kindergarten. Since 1987, more than 500,000have graduated from PCF kindergartens.A lack of funds holds the PCF back from adopting better programmes, said MsLow.The PCF kindergartens are run in a decentralised way. Funds available for eacharea come from fees collected and what the area’s Member of Parliament canraise.Said Ms Low: “We want to make education affordable. It’s not a business to us.” However, some argue that the Government should do more to regulate and fundpreschools, as the early childhood years are crucial in a child’s development.In his maiden parliamentary speech last year, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP MichaelPalmer asked: “Why should the ministry not require preschools to achieve aminimum standard in educating our children, the way it does at upper levels ofeducation?”He also noted how childcare centres, many of which offer kindergartenprogrammes, do not need to register with MOE. Although it is compulsory forpreschool centres to register with the ministry, childcare centres are notrequired to register, even if they have kindergarten programmes.Instead, the more than 720 childcare centres are registered with MCYS.Ultimately, though, the key question for many parents is this: How much of adifference does a preschool make to a child’s development?Engineer Phang Siong Chieng, 42, thinks it makes a big difference, so he optedfor the premium PCF programme for his six-year-old daughter.“Marissa has built up her confidence and shows a strong interest in play-actingand drama. She’s also good at presenting to a medium-sized audience. Paying the higher school fees is worth it,” he said.Product manager-turned housewife Anita Kaur, 35, readily admits she was “kiasu”(afraid to lose) when it came to education choices for her three daughters.She did her research, visited several preschool centres, and went at dismissaltimes to see how teachers coped when they were under the most stress.“The Singapore school system is stressful enough. I was looking for anenvironment with lots of love,” said Ms Kaur, whose husband is a neurologist.She chose to send her girls – Divya, six, and twins Vidya and Viksha, four – toSt James Church Kindergarten in Tanglin Village, paying $1,710 a term for allof them.“My children are so happy. They have no problem putting on their uniforms,there’s no problem putting them in the car.”RTRC-Asia’s Ms Chan said it is hard to generalise about the impact thepreschool years make on a child’s development.The home, parents’ educational qualifications, amount of time parents spendwith their children, playing with them, reading to them and watching the righttelevision programmes with them, all count too.“The fact that you can pay $1,000 for preschool already says you come from adifferent background,” she said.When a child reads well, it may not be as a result of the preschool he goes to,but because his mother reads to him, she added.Studies have shown that any increase in IQ from a preschool programme evens outby the time the child is 10 years old.But for children from low-income backgrounds, the quality of preschooleducation can improve their prospects greatly.Early childhood educator Vashima Goyal works with disadvantaged children atChild At Street11, a non-profit childcare centre in Ang Mo Kio.She firmly believes early intervention can help such children become moreconfident and creative. For the past two years, she has also trained teachersat three PCF centres to carry out a new programme which lets children take thelead in learning.The preschool pie in Singapore is a lucrative one. Increasingly, the PCF’sposition as the dominant player is being challenged by others withbetter-quality staff and more innovative programmes.While the PCF kindergartens have taken steps to change, the question is whetherthey can transform themselves fast enough.