Mayor Zai's Blog

Speech - Good Employment Practices Conference

Speech by Zainudin Nordin, Executive Secretary of Education Services Union at the Good Employment Practices Conference on 25 January 2010, Monday, 9.30am at NTUC Auditorium, One Marina Boulevard

Guest of Honour, Mr Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Manpower

and Ministry of Health,

NTUC Central Committee Members,

Partners from Pre-school Sector,

Distinguished Guests,

Brothers and Sisters,

1.                  Good morning and welcome to “Bright Beginnings” – a conference by the Education Services Union to showcase good employment practices in the pre-school sector.

2.                  In March 2009, the WDA gathered key partners to form a Marketing and Promotion Workgroup for the pre-school sector. The partners included ESU, MCYS, MOE, e2i (NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute), Association of Private Childcare Organisations (APCO), Association for Early Childhood Educators (Singapore) (AECES) and other industry stakeholders. The formation of the workgroup was timely as MCYS has just announced plans for another 200 new childcare centres over the next five years. With such rapid expansion, it will be a challenge for the industry to cope with the number of qualified educators required.

3.                  A three-pronged strategy was agreed upon by the workgroup members to tackle manpower challenge. It involved advocating the importance of the early childhood care and education sector to Singapore, promoting career opportunities, and showcasing the clear progression pathways and strong training support in this sector. A sub-committee dedicated to profiling the sector as a fair employer and industry of choice was birthed from the workgroup. This conference, aptly titled “Bright Beginnings”, and a handbook for pre-school operators that will be launched later, are products of the workgroup and sub-committee’s hard work and commitment to uplift the sector to become an industry of choice.

4.                  This is the beginning of many exciting initiatives to come. There still exist misconceptions of the jobs of early childhood educators. There are those who continue to view pre-school educators as no different from a nanny or baby-sitter. They fail to recognise pre-school sector as one requiring high standards, professionalism and dedication - where educators must be properly qualified before they can be entrusted with the responsibilities of a teacher to children in their foundation years.

5.                  The pre-school sector also has to contend with issues of low salary, poor image and lack of recognition echoed by existing educators and potential entrants. However, the union, through its survey and feedback from the teachers, is seeing signs of improvement.

6.                  In 2007, the Education Services Union commissioned Ernst and Young to conduct a wage survey amongst our members. The average salary surveyed for full-time teachers was $1,232. And 34% of those surveyed indicated that they intend to leave the industry within the next 12 months, of which more than half stated salary as their reason for leaving. In July 2009, ESU surveyed members again to update on the findings. In this survey, we saw that the average salary of full-time teachers has risen to $1,668, an increase of 35%. This is in line with the findings of the MOM Wage Survey, where the basic salary was increased from $1,302 in 2007 to $1,622 in 2008. The results are also heartening as the average entry pay of the Ngee Ann Polytechnic cohort has risen from $1,529 to $1,649 within the same time period.

7.                  What is more encouraging is that the percentage of respondents who were considering leaving the industry within the next 12 months has dropped to 27%, even though we recognise that the main reason cited for wanting to leave is still the salary (29.6% of respondents.)

8.                  In an industry where manpower is of essence to survival, the findings of this survey showed that companies in this sector are beginning to recognise the professionalism of teaching professionals. In months to come, we hope that the tripartite partners and industry stakeholders can continue to do more to increase the attractiveness and viability of the industry as a career choice.

9.                  As a union representing the interests of working people in the private education industry, including pre-school sector, past projects that ESU has undertaken to promote the pre-school sector include a tribute luncheon in 2007 and industry national day observance ceremony in 2008. The union also recently set up a Professional Chapter for Early Childhood Educators with members of the Labour Movement family in December last year. This is a profession-based community within ESU that provides a platform for early childhood educators to engage and interact in discussions on professional topics and relevant activities. Through this chapter, ESU hopes to provide a support network for early childhood educators and encourage more to join this industry.

10.             To date, under the professional chapter, we have held a Career Coaching Session on the 9th of this month to provide personal advices to members who are at crossroads of their careers. We also held a Learning Fiesta on 16 January, just two weeks ago, to provide learning platform for members to gain knowledge in new areas through various interesting workshops. Moving forward, the chapter will continue to build up its suite of continual professional development courses for members to upgrade and up-skill themselves to strengthen their employability.

11.             This conference and the Professional Chapter are examples where joint efforts will help to uplift the sector. More will be done. An upcoming event is the International Conference on Early Childhood Education on 19 to 20 March 2010 that is jointly organised by the PAP Community Foundation and NTUC First Campus, in partnership with Singapore Polytechnic, and supported by MCYS, MOE and WDA. This is conference may form as part of the continual professional development opportunities for early childhood educators. Employers can take this opportunity to allow your staff to learn more about the latest research and findings in the profession for their up-skilling.

12.             On this note, I would also like to take the opportunity to thank our partners for their support towards the Bright Beginnings Conference – Association of Private Childcare Organisations; NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i); Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports; Singapore Workforce Development Agency; and Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices. I must also thank the strong support from the employers who have come to join us for today.

13.             Together, we pledge a joint commitment in promoting pre-school sector as an industry of choice. We hope to bring about Bright Beginnings not only to early childhood educators, but also to our children and their families.

Thank you.