Singapore

There is mounting evidence on the positive link between high quality early childhood development (ECD) personnel and the physical, social, and cognitive development of young children.

To bring light to these challenges, and potential responses to them, the Early Childhood Workforce Initiative (ECWI) has developed 6 country briefs which highlight efforts to support the workforce across different geographies and services.

These country briefs were informed by desk reviews and information collected through key informant interviews (KII) with country experts from implementing NGOs, multilaterals, and research institutions, as well as program managers and government officials across 15 countries. After identifying six promising country approaches to highlight, we conducted further desk research and interviews to inform the country briefs. These interviews were particularly helpful for clarifying the key enablers and barriers to implementation in each country as well as the policy lessons for other countries.

The sixth of these briefs focuses on Singapore. Developing Career Pathways for Early Childhood Care and Education Workers highlights the Government of Singapore’s efforts to support career advancement in the early childhood care and education profession by creating and investing in competency-based trainings, professional development frameworks, and career pathways.

Michelle Neuman, Results for Development

2019

Early Childhood Care and Education in Five Asian Countries seeks to consolidate early childhood developments in Asia as a basis for The Head Foundations further research and advocacy in this area.

A general overview of the ECCE landscape in the Asia-Pacific region is introduced by this resource. Country profiles are included as a way to share data on individual countries. These country profiles are presented through five aspects:

1. Programme structure,
2. Teacher qualification
3. Demographics
4. Funding and governance structure,
5. Public-private share

These profiles also provide a look at current concerns and recent developments in the countries. Common threads between these profiles are also addressed.

The Skills Framework is a SkillsFuture initiative developed for the Singapore workforce to promote skills mastery and lifelong learning. Jointly developed by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), and together with employers, industry associations, education and training providers and unions, the Skills Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) provides useful information on:

1. sector and employment opportunities
2. career pathways
3. occupations and job roles
4. existing and emerging skills
5. training programmes for skills upgrading and mastery

With the Skills Framework, individuals are equipped to make informed decisions about career choices, as well as take responsibility for skills upgrading and career planning.

The Framework provides an overview of the 5-must-knows for a fulfilling career in the ECCE sector. These are: 1) Why ECEC quality is important; 2) What it takes to be an inspiring ECEC professional; 3) What’s next for ECEC professionals; 4) Where the opportunities are; and 5) How the government supports ECEC professionals. The Framework also provides an overview of the career pathways in ECEC field and is accompanied by the ECCE Skills Map which details the skills for each of the ECCE occupations. The components within the Skills Map and brief descriptions are as follows: 1) ECCE occupations; 2) skills categories; 3) skills; and 4) training programmes

SkillsFuture

2017

Achieving Excellence through Continuing Professional Development: A CPD Framework for Early Childhood Educators provides child care personnel with a structured pathway to develop, update and specialize in knowledge and skills relevant to their profession. It is designed to help child care personnel continue to deliver high quality programs and services to children and families.