Annual Attrition of Early Childhood Educators and Enhancing Respect between These Educators and Parents

44 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the annual attrition rate for early childhood educators over the past five years; and (b) whether the Ministry intends to provide guidance on how parents and early childhood educators can work together positively and respectfully to improve the well-being of early childhood educators.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The annual attrition rate for Early Childhood educators was between 10% and 15% over the past five years.

Having a positive and respectful parent-teacher relationship is very important in supporting the holistic development of the child. Hence, the Early Childhood Development Agency has put in place guidelines to promote preschools’ partnerships with parents, as well as programmes like Start Small Dream Big movement for teachers and parents to work together with their children on community projects.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development had also provided information on ongoing initiatives to improve educators’ well-being in our reply to an earlier Parliamentary question on 2 July 2024. This included how parents should appreciate the work of our Early Childhood educators and have reasonable expectations of them. [Please refer to "Child Abuse Cases in Preschools and Teacher Support Measures Identified", Official Report, 02 July 2024, Vol 95, Issue 137, Written Answers to Questions section.]