1 More than 2,200 educators and partners came together at the biennial Early Childhood Celebrations & Conference (ECCC) on 25 and 26 September 2025 to celebrate the achievements of the preschool sector and chart the next phase of its development.
2 Themed “Weaving a Tapestry of Quality”, the event had Minister for Social and Family Development, Masagos Zulkifli, and Minister of State for Social and Family Development, Goh Pei Ming, announce new initiatives to strengthen inclusive practices, drive innovation, and recognise contributions across the sector. These efforts reinforce the Government’s commitment to quality early childhood (EC) care and education to ensure that every child has a good start in life.
Expanding Support for Children with Diverse Needs
3 In 2021, ECDA launched the Inclusive Support Programme (InSP) pilot in six preschools to enable children with developmental needs (DN) requiring medium levels of early intervention (EI) support to learn and receive support in preschools alongside their typically developing peers. Findings from an evaluation study on the pilot were announced by Minister Masagos at the Conference.
4 The study found that children requiring medium levels of EI support not only made significant progress in key developmental domains over time but also began to close the gap with their typically developing peers in areas such as language, cognitive, and daily functional skills. Their typically developing classmates also benefited, making strong academic and cognitive progress, which kept pace with or surpassed the milestones expected for their age. In addition, the study found that the inclusive environment fostered meaningful interactions between the children. After two years in InSP, typically developing children were three times more inclined to include peers with DN in their group activities, relative to typically developing children in preschool settings without InSP. More than 95% of parents in preschools with InSP, regardless of whether their children had developmental needs, would recommend such inclusive preschools to other families.
5 Building on these encouraging findings, ECDA will gradually expand the InSP by about 600 places from the initial 150, from 2026, giving more children the opportunity to thrive in inclusive environments. In this first phase of expansion, InSP will be implemented at preschools operated by Anchor Operators and selected Partner Operators. This reflects ECDA’s vision to strengthen inclusive practices in preschools and the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) commitment to evidence-based quality EC approaches so every child can thrive.
Driving Quality and Innovation in Preschools
6 To help preschools and educators provide quality care and education, ECDA is introducing new initiatives:
Quality Teaching Tool (QTT): Developed together with the National Institute of Education (NIE), QTT supports educators in designing meaningful learning experiences for children and enhancing teacher-child interactions. The tool will be rolled out today, with training commencing in the coming months. Educators can use the QTT to help them develop their teaching skills.
Practitioner Inquiry (PI) Starter Kit: The PI Starter Kit guides educators to reflect, evaluate and innovate to improve their professional practice through systematic and data-driven investigations with other professionals. It has been made available to the sector since June.
Technology for Quality: In collaboration with IMDA, ECDA will review the Industry Digital Plan to support preschools in adopting digital solutions, improving productivity and freeing up educators’ time to nurture children.
Recognising Excellence - Enhancements to ECDA Awards and SPARK 2.0
7 On 26 Sep 2025, Minister of State for Social and Family Development, Goh Pei Ming recognised 25 EC and EI educators, leaders and preschools for their excellence in teaching, leadership and innovation through the ECDA Awards. The ECDA Awards has been a key staple for encouraging good practices among educators, leaders and preschools, and will be enhanced. From 2026, the ECDA Awards will:
Give greater recognition of inclusive practices for all award categories to acknowledge educators’ and preschools’ ongoing efforts in supporting children with diverse needs. This is in line with ECDA’s efforts in strengthening inclusive practices.
Enhance the prize quantum of Awards to give strong recognition to educators’ and preschools’ commitment to high professional standards and quality advancement.
8 Dr Hanin Bte Hussain, ECDA Awards judge for the Early Childhood Leader category welcomed the enhancements, “By embedding inclusive practices across all award categories and enhancing the prize quantum, these changes further recognise our educators’ ongoing work in raising quality and fostering inclusion.”
9 Ms Christina Van Huizen, ECDA Awards judge for the Early Intervention Professional category said, “I am encouraged by these enhancements, which recognise inclusive practices and affirm the professional value of our educators’ work. Together, we can ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of background or needs.”
10 40 preschools also received certification under the revised Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework (SPARK 2.0), which encourages preschools to take ownership of their quality journey, as reflective practitioners designing child-centric programmes.
Recognising Partnership: Parents and Community Partners
11 Collaboration with parents and community partners is key to strengthen the ecosystem of support for children. For the first time, parents were honoured at this year’s ECCC for their contributions and partnership with preschools through the “Our Wonderful Parents” initiative. This effort is organised by Preschool Market (PSM), supported by ECDA and Singapore Kindness Movement. Over 300 parents were nominated by their children’s educators and recognised for the trust, respect, empathy, altruism and appreciation they demonstrated in partnering educators and preschools. More than 50 parent representatives attended the ECCC with their nominators.
12 Dr Cheong Su Fen, Founder of PSM, said, “This recognition celebrates not only the strength of parent-preschool partnerships but also the shared values that make learning meaningful and impactful for every child.” Mr Aaron Tan, nominated as one of “Our Wonderful Parents”, said, "Parents and educators each have different pieces of the puzzle of how a child grows, thinks and behaves. Only by working together can we make this puzzle whole and do the all-round best for our children."
13 32 community partners of the Start Small Dream Big (SSDB) initiative were also recognised for nurturing positive values such as empathy, kindness, and respect among children. Now in its 11th year, SSDB continues to inspire children to give back to society. More than 90,000 children from 1,300 preschools participated in SSDB this year, a 13% (children) and 8% (preschool) increase from 2024.
Looking Ahead
14 ECDA remains committed to uplifting the quality of preschool education through stronger inclusive practices, continuous innovation, and recognition of educators, centres and the community’s contributions. ECDA will continue to build the sector through the 3Cs of Collaboration, Cooperation, and Co-creation – fostering Collaboration to strengthen research and the ecosystem of support for children, building Cooperation with overseas partners for mutual learning opportunities, and enabling Co-creation to improve programmes and build capabilities. By working together with educators, parents, preschools, partners, and the wider community, every child in Singapore will have the opportunity to thrive.
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