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Hi parents! Is your child considering a career in early childhood (EC) education? As a parent, find out more about the EC courses and the prospects after graduation.
Do also share this link with your child as they embark on an adventure to explore the wonderful world of being an EC educator!
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Before your child embarks on his/her EC journey, you may be wondering what the future holds for the EC sector and who we are.
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Who is NIEC?
National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) is the national training institute set up by the Ministry of Education for early childhood (EC) educators. The establishment of NIEC is part of the Government’s efforts to uplift the profession.
At NIEC, we work closely with the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) to ensure our training programmes reflect the latest EC practices and meet the sector's evolving needs.
Our courses are conducted at our 4 campuses - NIEC (City), NIEC (NP), NIEC (TP) and NIEC (ITE).
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How can my child apply?
If your child has a strong aptitude and passion in the early childhood field, he/she can apply for our EC courses through the Early Admission Exercise (EAE)!
EAE is an aptitude-based admissions exercise that allows students to apply for and receive conditional offers for admission prior to receiving their final grades. The EAE application periods for ITE and polytechnic admissions are as follows:
ITE Admission:
- 21 May 2024 – 28 May 2024 (Graduating N/O-Level and final-year Nitec students)
Polytechnic Admission:
- 6 June 2024 – 24 June 2024 (Final-year ITE students)
- 20 June 2024 – 26 June 2024 (Graduating O-Level students)
- 3 June 2024 – 30 June 2024 (Working adults with at least 2 years of relevant work experience)
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Where does my child submit his/her EAE application?
For ITE EAE:
- Apply via the ITE EAE portal during the application period.
- Choose up to 3 courses.
- Submit a write-up (up to around 100 words), List down your talents, aptitude, achievements, passion and interests relevant to the early childhood course.
For Poly EAE:
- Apply via the Polytechnic EAE portal during the application period.
- Choose up to 3 courses.
Pro Tip: If you apply for the Diploma in Early Childhood Development & Education (ECDE) in Ngee Ann Polytechnic (N96) & Temasek Polytechnic (T68), they will be counted as 2 choices. - Submit 2 write-ups, namely:
- A course-related write-up on your interest for early childhood education (max. 600 characters)
- A write-up on your talents/achievements (max. 1,000 characters)
WHY SHOULD MY CHILD CHOOSE EARLY CHILDHOOD?
Here are some key reasons for your child to join the early childhood sector:
1. Rewarding and Meaningful Profession
EC educators are in the privileged position to be one of the children’s first teachers. During the critical developmental period in their early years, a child's brain undergoes rapid growth, making this time particularly impactful for learning. As such, EC educators play an immensely vital and meaningful role in nurturing young children, imparting essential life skills and values, and helping them lay a strong foundation in learning!
2. Promising Pathways
The government has implemented initiatives to support the growth of the sector, creating opportunities for both career and educational progression. During the ECDA Early Childhood Celebration 2022 on 29 October, Minister Masagos Zulkifli announced that over 3,500 educators are required by 2025 to support preschool expansion of 22,000 more full-day preschool places over the next 2 years. The spending on early childhood education will also double from $1.8 billion over the next few years.
ECDA has also announced the expansion of career pathways in the EC space. This includes leadership, learning support or early intervention roles. Click here to find out more about the career pathways.
The starting salaries for fresh EC diploma graduates joining Anchor Operators (AOPs) have increased from $2,600 to at least $2,900 in 2024.
(Source: ECDA Press Release, 29 October 2022.)
Here are some additional articles on our government's strong support in uplifting the early childhood sector:
- Pre-school educator's pay rise by 10-30% amid review of working conditions (October 2022, The Straits Times
- New initiatives to support children and early childhood sector (October 2021, Ministry of Social and Family Development)
- More than 1,900 jobs available in early childhood sector (November 2020, The Straits Times)
- Annual spending by the Government on the early childhood sector is set to double to more than $2 billion per year within the next few years (February 2020, The Straits Times)
3. Further Studies
Students will be eligible to apply for selected full-time degree programmes offered by the Autonomous Universities (AUs) or overseas universities. You may find the full university accreditation list here.
Moreover, we provide a full range of courses for EC educators at every stage of their career. Even after graduation when they are working as an educator, they are able to continue upgrading themselves through our Post Diploma or Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses!
Upon Graduation
They will be awarded a certificate by NIEC and the Polytechnic/ITE. They will also be eligible for teacher certification by ECDA.
We conduct our early childhood courses in collaboration with ITE College Central, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic at the NIEC (ITE), NIEC (NP) and NIEC (TP) campuses respectively! Students get to enjoy dual-identity where they are both students of NIEC and the campus they are enrolled in.
Let's find out what life as an NIEC student is like at our campuses!
Both NIEC (NP) and NIEC (TP) offers the Diploma in Early Childhood Development & Education. Students can get to choose the following specialisation tracks in your third year:
- NIEC (NP): Early Intervention Track or Mother Tongue Language Teaching Chinese or Tamil Track
- NIEC (TP): Visual Arts Track or Mother Tongue Language Teaching Malay Track
*Subject to prevailing terms and conditions
Click through to learn more about our 3 EC courses that we offer at the various campuses:
Here at NIEC, we provide quality training to develop confident and competent EC educators who are work-ready, self-directed and reflective practitioners.
Students will also get to exchange learning points and interact with our lecturers from various campuses who have diverse experiences related to EC. Here's what our students have to say about their NIEC experience.
Find out more from some of our lecturers too.
IMMERSING IN ROLEPLAY
I teach a drama module that involves various drama strategies they can apply in the classroom. I give my students roleplay scenarios to help them fully immerse themselves in the strategies. For example, I give some students the role of a teacher doing a dramatic reading of a storybook to their children! This helps them better understand the process of each strategy.
- Ms Amelia George, Lecturer
GUIDING EVERY STEP OF THE WAY
As lecturers, we play the role of mentors too! I make time to listen to my students, especially when they are struggling to cope or need a listening ear. I always assure my students that our classroom is a safe space and they are free to express their thoughts and ask questions. Reminding them that all their questions and opinions are valued also sets an example for them. When they become teachers, they should do the same in their classroom.
- Ms Claire Chan, Lecturer
ART IS FOR YOU & EVERYONE
Visual arts has always been a vital area for children’s holistic development in critical thinking, openness to new experiences and creativity. These are 21st-century competencies for a new world we face today. As we train students to be early childhood educators, it is important for them to harness the interest in the visual arts, so that they can create an encouraging and creative environment for children and be the nurturing educator alongside children.
- Mr Terence Lin, Lecturer
Ask Us Anything!
If you have any questions, email us: niec_eae@niec.edu.sg
We hope to see your child in NIEC soon!