I REFER to the letter last Thursday, 'Beef up monitoring of childcare centres' by Mr Kuan Weng Chi. Mr Kuan feels more should be done to ensure the delivery of quality preschool education.

We agree that the provision of quality preschool programmes is important. Instead of prescribing specific curriculum, we seek to provide, through our licensing requirements and the Ministry of Education (MOE)'s 'Nurturing Early Learners' framework, directions on the desired outcomes of preschool education, and how these can be translated into quality learning activities. This allows for diversity in the teaching methods and development approaches to cater to the needs of different children. Parents can then select a service that best meets their preferences and expectations.

Minimum standards are ensured through our licensing system, which covers all aspects of childcare provisions, such as the physical environment, safety, health, hygiene, nutrition, staffing and programmes. The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) requires each childcare centre to develop its own philosophy of care for children, and a set of developmentally-appropriate practices in the areas of pedagogy and curriculum. Centres are also required to employ qualified teachers to implement the programmes. Recently, we had further raised the minimum requirements for preschool teachers.

MCYS also conducts unannounced visits regularly to centres to ensure compliance with licensing requirements and that quality and care standards are maintained.

Our multi-pronged approach aims to bring about better quality of preschool education. But there is always scope for improvement, and we review our approaches on a regular basis. In doing so, we will take Mr Kuan's feedback into consideration.

Lee Kim Hua
Director
Family Services Division
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

This article was first published in The Straits Times.