News & Events
CANDID SHARING MARKS AN ENGAGING DIALOGUE SESSION BETWEEN OPERATORS AND ECDA
The much awaited dialogue session between ECDA and pre-school operators finally took place on 30th April 2014 at ECDA Headquarters. This is the first Dialogue session jointly organised by ASSETS and ECDA. The Panel of Discussion was jointly formed by both parties with ECDA represented by Dr Lee Tung Jean (Chief Executive) and Mr. Melvyn Ong (Deputy Chief Executive), and ASSETS represented by Dr T Chandroo (Chairman), Mr. Robert Leong, (Vice Chairman) and Dr Lily Wong (Head of Education Research). ECDA key personnel were also strategically deployed all over the room fully prepared to answer queries that fall within their domain.
Soon after Dr Chandroo ended his opening speech, the 50-strong crowd of operators kicked into action with question after question directed to ECDA. The sentiment on the ground was laid bare in front of ECDA. One gentleman asked about the strategic direction of the government towards the pre-school industry. He inquired whether the government want to take over and nationalise the pre-school industry or is the government prepared to allow "all flowers to bloom", a term he used to describe the co-existence of the various forms of pre-school operators i.e AOPs, Private Operators, VWOs, Foreign Operators etc. Another lady operator bemoaned the disparity of resources between MOE-operated kindergarten and her VWO outfit, vividly comparing her "minute" recruitment column to MOE's full page counterpart. Others keenly discussed topics included manpower shortages, foreign labour, teachers' pre-requisite qualification, SPARK, AOP scheme etc.
ECDA was forthcoming in answering those questions. Both CE and DCE informed that ECDA was only one year old, and had been trying their best to resolve issues of the sector. They promised that ECDA will continue to work hard in order to create a vibrant pre-school sector. One operator openly praised and thanked the good work that ECDA had done for the pre-school industry.
In his closing speech, Dr Chandroo aptly concluded that the dialogue session brought operators and ECDA closer with shared understanding on some issues. He acknowledged that while not all issues can be resolved overnight, the dialogue session opened up future possibility. He promised that ASSETS would organise more such interactive sessions in the future.