By Jennani Durai

AN EXPERIMENTAL kindergarten will be set up at Temasek Polytechnic to drive innovation and allow for research in the area of early childhood education.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Education) Masagos Zulkifli announced yesterday that the Ministry of Education (MOE) will provide $1.5 million over three years.

Registration will take place later this year but classes will start only next year.

'Teachers will use innovative strategies and pedagogy to help children acquire knowledge, language and social skills, and dispositions,' he said.

While this is going on, they will be observed by researchers from the polytechnic's Centre for Child Study and other lecturers.

Students from the early childhood studies diploma programme will also have opportunities to help with research, under the guidance of their instructors.

A polytechnic spokesman expects an initial intake of 75 children. Details of the fee structure will be available later this year.

The kindergarten will have an oval-shaped classroom with a one-way mirror. This will allow researchers, students and parents to observe what is happening in the kindergarten without disrupting the children's daily programme.

Mr Masagos said successful practices from the kindergarten will be shared with others in the pre-school sector here.

Several MPs debating the estimates for the MOE yesterday asked if it would ensure a baseline of quality among pre-schools.

This is because a disparity in standards will lead to children starting primary school on an unequal footing.

Mr Masagos said the ministry will release a Kindergarten Accreditation Framework by next year. Pre-school operators who meet specific standards may apply for accreditation under it.

While the scheme will be voluntary, Mr Masagos said he was sure kindergarten operators would opt for it as parents would be assured that their child's kindergarten was an accredited one.

The ministry is also improving the quality of pre-school teachers by offering more scholarships and teaching awards this year for teachers to earn their bachelor's degree in early childhood education with management at SIM University.

During the debate, Dr Amy Khor (Hong Kah GRC) called for a review of the qualifying household income ceiling for the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme.

She said the financial burden on families whose incomes did not qualify them for the scheme was 'still significant'.

Mr Masagos replied that this issue was under the purview of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). But he added that such families had other forms of assistance, such as the Baby Bonus Scheme, to help them offset kindergarten fees.

Currently, some 500 kindergartens come under the ministry while 800 childcare centres that provide kindergarten programmes come under the MCYS.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.