I was able to get a response back from two early childhood professionals. The first person is from Australia and she will help if she can but she is going to have a baby any day and so I have not had a response to my second e-mail. The second person I got a hold of is from Singapore, Mrs. Wong. She does not have time to dialog on a regular basis but she did give me a web address that has a lot of information on issues and trends in early childhood in Singapore. The web site is called Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and has information on child care policies, research on children and family services, and other information regarding children and families. I looked at the information on the Guidelines for Center-Based Infant/Toddler Care in Singapore and it was interesting to see that the ratio is 1:5 and here in California it is 1:4 and the National Association for the Education of Young Children recommends a ratio1:3. The age range for Infant/Toddlers is 2months to 18 months in Singapore and the age range in the US is 2 months to 24 months. In Singapore they have an Infant Educator or an Infant Nurse. They both have to be over 21 years of age and have certificates in Infant/Toddler care and development. the Infant nurse is a registered nurse and I found that interesting because in the US nurses get paid more than an ECE teacher so I would be curious what they get paid in Singapore to work in the ECE field.
It also seems that the Parliament in Singapore is concerned with the quality and acceptability of preschool for all children. In this Parliamentary Motion on Pre-School Education document it shows that in Singapore they are moving forward to provide quality in early childhood education.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations or making contact, how exciting!
The Parliamentary document is very interesting - it seems that Singapore has made great strides in the last several years for their communities in adding more centers where needed and providing financial assistance so that every child can attend pre-school.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Julie,
ReplyDeleteOne thing that always stood out to me since I began my career in child care was the ratio aspect. Many of the numbers I have since forgotten, but I do recall teaching preschool, 3 and 4 year olds with a ratio of 6:1. Personally, I always felt that was too much and to be on the safer side, a 4:1 ratio would have been better suited for that age. So to read that infant/toddler ratio in Singapore is 5:1 and 4:1 in California is really interesting to me. I would think younger children would need more hands on support and "eyes", so to speak in the early childhood setting.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteYou have certainly made some exciting discoveries about the ratio issue in other countries. Thank you for the valuable contribution. It is good to know that some other countries are raising the standard in quality in the pre-school as well as the U.S. Singapore has tried because of the importance they have placed on education and care in the early years. The policy is good if they have the resources to back it up. In my school setting, the toddler group is from 6mths to 18mths and the ratio is 8 to 1, that is the minimum we can afford. That again is because of funding, because we are private funding. Government needs to take up the challenge of total funding and teacher training to raise qualified personnel for the centers. I hope one day, quality care and education will be available and affordable for all the young children irrespective of their country, family resources and social status.