Tag Archives: Singapore

Pre-school teachers: Leaving before they’ve even started

(Op-ed published by Today, Nov. 8, 2013)

By Trisha Craig

Over the past year, the Government has announced new measures and sources of funding to improve pre-school education in Singapore.

In addition to incentivising operators to hire more qualified teachers at better salaries, proposing schemes to keep pre-school affordable for low- and middle-income families and offering more scholarship money for prospective teachers, the creation of 16,000 more pre-school places is envisioned by 2017.

More places mean more choice for parents, which should be especially welcome news to working mums and dads if centres are nearer their homes or jobs. Yet, it also means, at least in the short run, that the shortage of teachers is likely to be an issue with which the sector will continue to grapple.

High teacher turnover at the pre-school level is a feature of Singapore and among the factors that account for its relatively low ranking globally in pre-school quality. Continue reading …

Universities dig deep

On the same day that Harvard has announced it will be asking alums and others to dig deep to help them raise $6.5 billion in a new capital campaign, the New York Times reports that in Singapore, universities may really be about to dig deep.  In a country where the joke is the national bird is the crane, finding ways to build on the very limited land is always a challenge.  By exploring the possibility of going underground to build classrooms, gymnasiums, libraries and meeting space, the National and Nanyang Technological universities may make the most of their campuses where expanding out is not feasible.

Ultimately, what will matter more than spectacular feats of engineering to go underground on this island, is how and whether the campuses are able to develop a dialogue with the urban culture where they are located.  If Singapore is to follow the path of other global urban educational hubs where development is driven at least in large part by great universities and the links with the surrounding communities (think the two Cambridges, Berkeley, etc.) it will need to find ways for them to communicate well.

As university planners consider the merits of expanding in a subterranean direction, they should also consider how those areas can be designed to enhance the vibrancy of connections with the local urban space.

High cost of low trust in pre-school education

(Op-ed published by The Straits Times on Sept. 6, 2013)

By Trisha Craig

IF PRE-SCHOOL were an Olympic event, Finland would have a lock on the gold.

Its early childhood education system consistently ranks at the top of international charts. And when you walk into typical Finnish classrooms, as I did last week, it is easy to see why.

On the metrics that matter with these global comparisons, Finland excels. The student-teacher ratios are low, meaning each teacher has fewer pupils to attend to. Teachers are well trained. This fosters warm, nurturing and intellectually engaging interactions.

Pre-school teachers in Finland are also well compensated and well respected, which means that centres face less of the disruptive high turnover that often plagues early education systems where teaching is less socially valued. Continue reading …

As childlessness becomes normative, what can policymakers do?

Op-ed published in Today, May 13, 2013

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By Trisha Craig

This year, the celebration of Mother’s Day took place against the backdrop of a growing recognition that as a society, Singapore is moving to a situation where fewer women will become mothers and when they do, they will have fewer children.

So used to topping world rankings in matters of education, competitiveness or labour-market efficiency, Singapore also finds itself among the world leaders in low fertility and advanced maternal age at first birth. The fertility rate is hovering around a population-busting 1.2 children per woman and the average age at which a Singaporean woman has her first child is just shy of 30.

There is widespread public awareness of this trajectory and no shortage of discussion about the remedies for it: Make work-life balance easier to achieve by offering more paid leave to new parents, giving more subsidies and places for high-quality childcare, de-stigmatise part-time work, or prioritise and offer more attractive housing options, for starters.

It’s interesting to note that these potential policy options are being considered, or at least debated, in the context of a society where the value placed on being married and having children is high. This, though, is not unusual: In most developed countries where fertility has taken a nosedive as it has in Singapore, young people continue to see marriage and having children as an ideal.

In light of those stated preferences, it seems that getting the right mix of public policy to support those aspirations ought to be relatively simple. And yet, it is not.

Looking at the reasons why achieving this ideal is so hard is an important addition to the policy debate — because they suggest the real headwinds that policymakers face. Continue reading …

Embracing technology for the early years

Op-ed published in Today, April 22, 2013
By Trisha Craig and Zachary Walker

The Government’s revised kindergarten curriculum is a model for educating the young, with its emphasis on children’s holistic development, learning through play and ensuring that they begin to develop the 21st-century competencies that they will need as Singaporeans and global citizens.

As we prepare today’s learners for tomorrow’s world, it is important to acknowledge that some of the necessary skills include using technology. The curriculum framework notes a role for technology in the kindergarten classroom and that technology should be used in a developmentally appropriate manner and complement — not substitute — concrete activities like art and crafts or outdoor play.

However, the use of technology by young children is a fraught topic. Many view it as a particularly pernicious form of electronic babysitting, turning children into passive consumers of images and say that thus it has no place in educational settings. According to this view, the early childhood classroom is a peaceful haven from a hectic world that is connected 24/7.

However, precisely because technology is such an all-encompassing feature of modernity, to ignore it in educational settings misses the reality of the lives of most children, who are surrounded by it outside of school. Continue reading …

Let kids play, give teachers trust

Singaporean parents will support a focus on play in pre-school if convinced it will benefit their children later. TODAY file photo

Singaporean parents will support a focus on play in pre-school if convinced it will benefit their children later. TODAY file photo

Op-ed published in Today, March 15, 2013

By Trisha Craig

Wednesday’s announcement by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat that the Ministry of Education (MOE) will, for the first time, become directly involved in establishing and running kindergartens is a welcome and auspicious development. It signals the seriousness the Government attaches to early childhood education and its commitment to raising standards and providing broad access to high quality pre-school.

The programme for now is a pilot one, where models will be tested and best practices sought in 15 demonstration sites. As the MOE embarks on this remarkable endeavour, are there any models of excellence from which it can learn?

Internationally, the gold standard is often considered Finland. Does Finland, a small, wealthy open economy near the Arctic Circle, offer any lessons for Singapore, a small, wealthy open economy near the equator, when it comes to early childhood education?

At first glance, it would seem so. After all, in addition to some financial measures, the two countries are so similar, and top the global charts, on all kinds of international measures of institutional (lack of corruption), economic (global competitiveness), and scholastic performance (maths and science scores at secondary school).

Thus, when they diverge, as they do on pre-school quality — the national angst caused by the revelation that Singapore only ranks 29th internationally is certainly part of the backstory to the improvements outlined in the MOE’s announcement — Finland is a natural place to look at when it comes to lessons on how to improve the system. Continue reading …

What family-friendly really means

TODAY file photo

TODAY file photo

Op-ed published in Today, Feb. 6, 2013

By Trisha Craig

The Government deserves a great deal of credit for its much-anticipated White Paper on Population that has initiated a frank conversation on Singapore’s future, and has shown how the dynamics of family life, the exigencies of the labour market, the built environment and national identity are inextricably linked.

At its core, it ponders how to solve the issue of falling birth rates and an ageing population. Given that this is a global problem, are there any lessons that Singapore could adapt from other countries, particularly in terms of how some advanced economies have sustained their birth rates?

There are adjustments to work and family life that, approached judiciously, could help alleviate the burden that Singapore is likely to face in the coming decades. Increased availability of childcare and part-time employment may offer some help.

To see why these things make a difference requires an understanding of the calculations surrounding fertility that couples or women make.

As women become more highly educated, their expectations about work and family life shift. In particular, they expect to put their training to use and be employed. The dual-income family has become the norm in many countries. Continue reading …

Incentivizing high quality in preschool

Op-ed in Straits Times News

Singapore is on a mission to improve the quality of its preschools. In June, the country so used to being at the top of international rankings for its education system, found itself uncomfortably in the 29th spot in terms of early childhood education according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The government has been quick to act and prioritize raising standards.  In addition to regulations, though, education systems need incentives and we need to think of ways the private sector (including employers and parents) can create those incentives.

Op-ed published in the Straits Times, December 4, 2012

Boost Pre-school Quality by Focusing on Teacher Training

By Trisha Craig for the Straits Times

AROUND the world, there is widespread recognition that investing in high quality early childhood education (ECE) yields high returns for individuals and societies. In the long run, ECE can help create a well-trained and competitive labour force.

In Singapore, the commitment to improving ECE runs deep. Indeed it starts at the top. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong noted in his National Day speech that we “need to improve the quality of our pre-school education. We now know how important the early years are… It will provide many long-term benefits later on in life”.

There are numerous markers of quality pre-school education including small classrooms, challenging curricula and an encouraging environment for problem-solving. A particularly important one is the training of the teachers.

Continue reading →

Academic entrepreneurship: West meets East

photo by Lucien Teo

Last night I attended a reception at the beautiful residence of the German Ambassador to Singapore to mark the ties between Germany and Singapore in the life sciences. It gave the recent THE world rankings of universities some real world context, in the sense of showing the rise of Asia in some of the new growth sectors and the link to higher education.  One of the speakers was Dr. Andreas Schmidt, the CEO of Ayoxxa, a biotech firm based in Cologne and Singapore that just raised a round of investments to develop and bring to market its chip-based protein analysis technology.  That technology was developed by Dieter Trau, a German bioengineering professor at the National University of Singapore. NUS, which didn’t break the top 50 best schools for the life sciences as recently as two years ago, is now ranked 33rd in the world.

Other speakers talked about ‘Singapore as the new US’ and ‘the East as the new West’, highlighting, if in a slightly hyperbolic way, the ease of doing business in Asia and the growing talent pool in the region. Singapore and Germany were touted as bridges on their respective continents, given their central location, and thus natural partners to bring these two zones together. 

Is there a new era dawning where Asia represents a new frontier for European entrepreneurship? It’s hard to say.  The Economist’s recent coverage of the difficulty of starting businesses in Europe laments the continent’s lack of entrepreneurs, thus migration elsewhere where the conditions are better makes sense, though Berlin, London and Stockholm are seen as hubs of innovation.  Asian investment in creating leading universities is also an important factor: young scientists are being attracted because the quality of the labs surpasses what they are offered in Europe and North America.

On the other hand, start-ups need capital and there is still a tendency for capital to invest locally. The global slowdown isn’t helping matters with financing being tighter and in the case of Singapore, there is some grumbling that money that could be going in to investing in innovations is instead being plowed into an overheated property market where returns have been high with relatively little perceived risk. Still, as Asia continues its ascent to become a knowledge based economic center and source of innovation, it is good to see European entrepreneurs present.