Good afternoon everyone,
Chief Executive Officer of ECDA Ms Ku Geok Boon,
Colleagues,
Educators,
Parents,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Introduction
1. I am truly honoured to share in your joy today as we celebrate our collective achievements and partnerships. Being a father to three children, with my youngest still in preschool, I have experienced first-hand and really appreciate the significant impact that all our early childhood educators make on a day-to-day basis.
2. Since taking on the Early Childhood portfolio in May, I've had the privilege of visiting many of your preschools across Singapore. Your passion and commitment is clearly evident in every classroom and every interaction that you have with our children and their family members. Each one of you brings your unique strengths, like threads woven into an amazing tapestry, to create a strong foundation for our children's learning, development and overall well-being.
3. Yesterday, Minister Masagos spoke about our sector's important shift towards quality advancement. Raising the quality of our early childhood education is not a destination. It is a continuous journey with our educators, our parents and our community, all coming together to give every child the best possible start in life.
Celebrating Quality
4. For the ECDA Awards today, we celebrate 25 outstanding and promising Early Childhood and Early Intervention professionals and preschools. These award recipients have demonstrated strong professional excellence in teaching, leadership and innovation. Further, they have shown commitment to strengthen meaningful partnerships with parents and the wider community.
5. One inspiring recipient is Nadiah from PCF Sparkletots Preschool at Kaki Bukit. She is receiving the Outstanding Early Childhood Leader Award today. Nadiah shows how she builds trust through strong relationships with parents and nurtures a supportive culture for her team. With her united team sharing a common vision of providing quality care and education to our children, they transformed ordinary classrooms into exciting spaces that spark children’s curiosity and exploration.
6. Since its inception in 2013, the ECDA Awards have become an important platform to motivate and recognise excellence and quality among individual educators, teams and preschools. From, next year (2026) onwards, we will be making two key enhancements for the Awards.
7. First, we will recognise inclusive practices for all award categories. This is to acknowledge educators’ and preschools’ ongoing efforts in supporting our children with diverse needs. This is also part of our commitment to help every child thrive, no matter their circumstances.
8. Secondly, we will enhance the award quantum to give stronger recognition to educators’ and preschools’ commitment to high professional standards and quality advancement.
9. This year, ECDA rolled out the revised Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework, SPARK 2.0, to enable preschools to take greater ownership of their quality improvement journey. Moving away from an assessment approach, SPARK 2.0 validates preschools’ efforts to continuously reflect and improve on their approach in providing quality programmes to meet the needs of their children. Today, I am delighted to congratulate the first 40 preschools that have met the SPARK 2.0 Certification standards under the revised framework. Going forward, operators will play a bigger role to steer and guide their educators in making continuous improvements to better meet the needs of the children and their families in your preschools.
10. Big congratulations to all our leaders and preschool educators!
Quality through Strengthening Parent-Preschool Partnerships
11. Quality early childhood extends beyond the classroom walls. Parents are and will always be our children's first teachers. That's why close parent-preschool partnerships are extremely important in raising curious, confident, and caring children.
12. In May, Preschool Market, supported by ECDA and the Singapore Kindness Movement, launched a meaningful initiative called "Our Wonderful Parents"—celebrating parents who exemplified trust, respect, empathy, and altruism in their partnerships with all educators. I am thrilled to hear that more than 300 parents were nominated by their children’s preschools.
13. Among the many inspiring stories, one particularly touched my heart. Having had four boys attend Skool4Kidz Preschool @ Woodlands Crescent Meadow, Suriani volunteered as the Chairperson of the Parent Support Group in the preschool. Besides cultivating close relationships with the educators through actively volunteering her time, energy and resources, she also mobilises her family members to support the centre’s initiatives. Such strong and supportive collaboration between parents and educators creates a positive environment for all professionals and families.
14. To Suriani and all our wonderful parents here today, a very big thank you for believing in this partnership with our educators. As you continue on this journey, I encourage our parents to share your experiences and help build an even stronger and bigger community of parents who can continue to be partners with our educators in the holistic development of their children.
15. To our educators, remember that every conversation with a parent, and every invitation to collaborate contributes to strengthening these partnerships in the best interest of our children.
Quality through Community Partnership
16. Our tapestry of quality extends far beyond our Early Childhood fraternity and parents. The broader community plays a crucial role in supporting our children's development and helping them understand their place in the world around them.
17. Through the Start Small Dream Big (or SSDB) movement, our community partners have affirmed our shared belief in nurturing positive values such as kindness, appreciation, and social responsibility in our children. Your partnership has played a significant role in encouraging our children to experience the joy of giving back to society from an early age.
18. One partnership illustrates this well. The Children's Museum Singapore collaborated with preschools to create engaging learning journeys to introduce Singapore's history and heritage. I was just told that parents need to be accompanied by their children to enter the museum. Children, together with their parents, explored real stories, reflected upon them, and expressed appreciation through various creative projects. These collaborations reinforce the values and extend the spirit of SSDB into family life.
19. To our 32 SSDB community partners, thank you for your steadfast support and for walking this significant journey with our preschools. Earlier this week in Parliament, in my maiden speech, I spoke about my firm belief that our children learn best through experiential learning - when they explore through unstructured play and when they interact with one another to build compassion and empathy. This is where you, our SSDB partners are helpful. You make a difference by offering different experiences and implementing the offerings from all our people – from our educators and parents. Beyond resources and programmes, you also bring heart and purpose - helping children appreciate nature and the environment, show kindness to others in need, and sharing real-life stories that make lessons come alive. You bridge the classroom with the community, creating learning that is authentic and meaningful - learning that goes far beyond books and walls. Together, we are shaping our children into active and compassionate citizens of tomorrow.
Raising Quality Together
20. As I look around today, I see the future of early childhood education in Singapore. Each and every one of you – educator, parent or partner - brings unique strengths and has a vital role to play in uplifting quality in early childhood. Together, let’s continue to create environments where children's natural curiosity and love of exploration can flourish through meaningful partnerships that honour how young minds truly learn and grow. When children have access to thoughtfully designed play opportunities, they discover that learning can be the most joyful adventure of all.
21. With ECDA's continued commitment and support, let us work hand-in-hand. Together, we will weave a rich, vibrant tapestry of quality that allows our children to flourish, ensuring that every child has the best possible start in life. Now, let the Celebrations begin!