MOE looking into recommendations on improving pre-school education

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Minister of State for Education, Lawrence Wong, said the ministry is looking into recommendations on how to improve the pre-school sector in Singapore.

Attended by nearly 500 participants from 17 countries, the Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association forum is a platform for educators and researchers to discuss ways to improve early childhood education.

Mr Wong said the ministry is doing more to raise the quality of pre-school especially since it is attended by almost 99 per cent of Primary 1 going children.

"As we go about doing so, we are very mindful that pre-school should not be an extension of formalised schooling for our young children. A quality pre-school education is not about cramming maximum knowledge into a young child's mind.

"Rather, it is about instilling in our children a sense of curiosity and creativity - abilities that are even more important for learning in the long term."

But according to most educators, the greatest challenge in improving pre-school education is in getting good quality teachers.

Providing free pre-school education is another recommendation.

While many educators agree with the principle of doing so, they cite possible challenges.

The relevant ministries will consider feedback from stakeholders for their review to finetune the policies and programmes for the pre-school sector.