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Early childhood teachers to have more financial support to pursue studies
On 30 October 2025, ECDA held the Scholarships and Training Awards Presentation Ceremony 2025 for 274 recipients and awardees. Mr Eric Chua, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development attended as the Guest of Honour and, in his speech, affirmed educators’ contributions to the sector and announced future plans for expansion of the scholarship. SPS’s speech also highlighted the stories of NIEC’s alumni which were also featured in the following articles:
The Straits Times’ coverage of the event features two NIEC alumni — NIEC (NP) alumnus and scholarship recipient Ms Dharshini Balachandram, and NIEC (TP) alumnus and Training Award and Commendation Award recipient Mr Samuel Liu. Both are graduates from NIEC’s Diploma in Early Childhood Development & Education (ECDE).
Now pursuing a master’s degree in early childhood education, Ms Balachandram shared how the scholarship has supported her as she furthers her learning, with the hope of becoming an EC lecturer in the future. The article also spotlights Mr Liu’s efforts in building community, and he shared about his passion for creating more opportunities for male educators to enter the sector.
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[Translation: ECDA will expand its preschool education scholarship program and increase the further education allowance to up to $8,000]
Chinese news outlets featured Ms Nicia Goh, recipient of the Training Award and emcee of the event. Ms Goh is an alumnus from NIEC (City), with a Diploma (Conversion) in Early Childhood Care & Education – Teaching [DECCE-T (Conversion)] and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree. She shared how she discovered her passion after making a career switch, how the award supported her studies, and her commitment to building strong foundations for children’s future as an educator.
[Translation: Recognition for Early Childhood Educators]
Tamil Murasu featured scholarship recipient Ms Balachandram, who shared about the meaningful impact early childhood educators have on children’s lives.
Published on 30/10/2025
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