1. Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli launched the updated Early Childhood (EC) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Roadmap at the annual Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) Scholarships and Training Awards Presentation Ceremony today. Close to 300 aspiring and in-service educators received their awards. Amongst these, eight in-service educators received ECDA Scholarships to pursue further studies and 16 Training Award recipients received Commendation Awards for exemplary achievements during their studies.
2. Since 2015, ECDA has invested over $96 million to date to support more than 3,000 aspiring and in-service EC educators to pursue their career aspirations and uplift the professional quality of the sector. The ECDA Scholarships has been supporting the professional development of in-service educators with leadership potential to take on larger job roles in the EC sector. The ECDA Training Awards support aspiring educators to fulfil their career goals and support the sector’s manpower needs.
3. ECDA will continue to strengthen the support for EC professionals to help committed individuals join and stay in the sector, and to enjoy a long and fulfilling career. In the refreshed EC Skills Framework, there are currently 27 job roles across the three career pathways for EC Education, Learning Support, and Early Intervention. This provides more opportunities for career progression for EC professionals.
4. Under the EC Education pathway, the updated CPD Roadmap has been extended from an initial 7 roles to cover all 15 roles. The Roadmap highlights the prioritised skills and competencies that educators should focus on in each role at different career stages. This will help educators identify relevant courses from ECDA’s Course Prospectus to deepen specific knowledge and skillsets. Other than the 140 CPD courses currently available for educators to choose from, ECDA will continue to curate high quality courses and enhance training content to equip educators with updated knowledge and skills to effectively support the learning and development of our children, while keeping them safe.
5. Centre leaders play a key role in establishing a culture of care, professional growth and innovation. ECDA has worked with the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) to roll out the revised Advanced Diploma in EC Centre Leadership (ADECL) for aspiring EC leaders in April this year. It covers new and enhanced content relating to leadership skills in the areas of curriculum, pedagogy, strategy and administration, as well as child safety and management.
6. There will also be upcoming initiatives to support experienced centre leaders to keep updated with sector trends and leadership practices. This will help them to continue improving the quality of care and education in their preschools and better equip them to guide new leaders and further strengthen the fraternity.
ISSUED BY
EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
About the Early Childhood Development Agency
The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) was set up in 2013. The autonomous agency oversees the regulation and development of infant, childcare and kindergarten programmes for children below the age of seven. To achieve their vision of giving every child a good start, the agency works in partnership with stakeholders to ensure that every child has access to affordable and quality early childhood development services and programmes.
Annex A - Early Childhood Continuing Professional Development Roadmap
Annex B - ECDA Training Awards and Commendation Awards