Review of Salary, Workload and Progression Pathways for Early Childhood Educators

4 Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the estimated timeline for completion of the salary review of early childhood educators under the Early Childhood Development Agency; and (b) whether the review will include implementing measures to manage the workload and provide pathways and progressions for career development.

The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): Mr Speaker, over the past three years, educators’ salaries in Government-supported preschools have increased by around 20% on average.

There is an ongoing salary review for early childhood (EC) educators which we expect to complete in the fourth quarter of 2022. ECDA intends to work with Government-supported operators to implement the changes from 2023 onwards. The review will ensure our educators’ salaries are commensurate with their contributions and professional skills, while being competitive enough to attract and retain talent in the sector.

Apart from the review, there is already an Early Childhood Skills Framework and a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) roadmap. Career pathways have also been expanded so that educators can aspire towards larger or new roles, such as Lead Early Years Educator, Deputy Centre Leader and Curriculum Specialist.

ECDA is also paying attention to educators’ well-being. The ongoing digitalisation initiatives help educators’ better manage their workload. ECDA is also working with preschools to adopt recommendations from the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment for the EC sector to ensure our educators’ physical and mental well-being are well taken care of.

ECDA will continue to engage and work closely with our stakeholders and pursue improvements in these areas.

Mr Speaker: Dr Wan Rizal.

Dr Wan Rizal (Jalan Besar): Mr Speaker, I thank the Minister for sharing some good news for our preschool educators. I am pretty sure the last two and a half years have been difficult for them, especially with our children and the COVID-19 situation. Thanks also for sharing a bit on the mental health well-being plans the Ministry has. Could the Minister expand a bit more on the points that he raised earlier on digitalisation and how we can better support them in those terms?

They have also actually shared a bit on some ergonomic issues, for example, because they are sitting on really low seats and the tables are all smaller. Could we look into expanding this framework and see how we can provide ergonomically better or special equipment for all teachers as they teach, too?

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I remember when I was in Primary school and all the way to Secondary school, my teachers used to collect fees in cash every month and then issue receipts one by one to all of us. I am not surprised that we have been doing this for a very long time. And we do need to help our teachers perform these administrative functions, whether they are doing fee collection, temperature-taking during COVID-19, for example, and, now, as it continues to be important; keeping in touch with parents; marking attendance. All these things today can be done through digitalisation efforts and we have been working with preschools to onboard them in applications that can be shared across the whole preschool sector.

We also take inputs from preschool leaders when there are new things that they want to do. For example, I saw applications that use e-learning that they transfer from book-type of recording into digital devices so that they can be reused again and again. Of course, it is also a very good sustainable effort. So, all these things are being done and will evolve. Actually, I am very happy to see, as I visit some preschools, that we are at the leading edge not only to digitalise for the purpose of education but also to help them with their productivity.

Of course, as I mentioned just now, we are always concerned for their physical and mental well-being, including their work environment. Some of the recommendations, as the Member mentioned just now, were to ensure that they have proper seats to sit on. Our teachers are very dedicated and they really connect with our children. They want to sit on the floor and, sometimes, on low stools so that they could connect at eye level with their children. It is not good for their back and their physical well-being in the long term. So, apart from encouraging them to basically take a proper chair or stool when they teach, we have also asked preschools to provide proper desks and seats so that, during their downtime, they can actually sit in an office environment where it is suited for them and not a classroom where there are only low stools and chairs where they continue to do their work.

Mr Speaker: Mr Leong Mun Wai.

Mr Leong Mun Wai (Non-Constituency Member): Thank you, Speaker. Can I ask the Minister how the EC educators' pay scale compares with that of the teachers now?

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I do not have the numbers. Members who are interested can file a Parliamentary Question on it.

But, certainly, there is a relativity among all jobs and all job families that we want to maintain, not just between educators, but also across many other jobs families so that there is balance between what we pay for their skills and contributions and being competitive enough that they do not move across because they are portable across some skills. We lose them. So, this is the balancing that we have to make across them and to compare. Whether it is a good thing to compare between preschool and school teachers is a question that professionals can help us to answer.