Preschool staff: TEACHERS or NANNIES?

We don't get much respect. We teach one minute and clean bottoms the next. We don't get much pay too.

That is the collective sentiment of preschool teachers, at least going by a Sunday Times survey.

Indeed, when we visited a preschool centre in Jurong East recently, a teacher was busy at the reception area taking the temperatures of tots and checking their mouths for sores.

In a classroom, another teacher was feeding porridge to a group of toddlers. In the bathroom, a two- year-old boy was being given a shower by another teacher.

One of these preschool educators, Ms Lu Xiu Ye, 39, noted wryly that many parents see them as mere nannies.

'Besides teaching these children, we take care of their daily needs. But it's a thankless job, and parents don't give us much respect,' she said.

Issues like low pay, lack of skills upgrading and poor self-esteem have resulted in a perennial problem - a high staff turnover.

On the other hand, as announced in Parliament last month by Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports Yu- Foo Yee Shoon, 200 more childcare centres will be ready by 2013. This is to meet the demands of working parents and those seeking early childhood programmes.

As of January this year, there were 739 centres.

Acknowledging the challenges facing the industry, Mrs Yu-Foo said these are not to do with 'the hardware but in attracting people' to work as childcare providers.

On Dec 14, the Workforce Development Agency appointed Regional Training and Resource Centre Asia (RTRC) as Singapore's first continuing education training centre.

RTRC will train more than 1,500 people over the next three years to meet the growing manpower demands in the preschool sector.

Five preschool centre managers contacted said low salaries, together with poor public perception of the job, have made it difficult to attract and retain staff.

In a survey of 5,000 preschool teachers done by the Education Services Union last year, 34 per cent wanted to leave their jobs within 12 months. More than half said their main grouse was the low pay.

Currently, teachers with diplomas in preschool education are paid about $1,500 to $1,800 a month. Those with certificates in preschool teaching get about $1,400 to $1,650.

They get diplomas and certificates from institutions like Ngee Ann Polytechnic and the RTRC.

At least eight people have written to The Straits Times Forum page recently calling for childcare teachers' pay and skills to be raised.

In her letter, former preschool teacher Marissa Teo, 25, said preschool teachers find it hard to multi- task, going from 'teaching one minute to cleaning backsides the next'.

Unlike kindergartens where the kids spend about four hours, the tots can log up to 12 hours at childcare centres.

Former preschool teacher Anuradha Ratty, 25, said many parents see preschool teachers as 'maid replacements'.

'They don't toilet-train their kids or bother if their kids come to school soiled. They expect the teacher to do all the work,' she said. She recalled working at a centre where teachers washed toilets during lunch breaks.

'We really don't mind if we are being appreciated, but we aren't,' said teacher X.L. Wong, 36. 'We don't get the respect primary school teachers get. We aren't seen as educators.'

The 10 preschool teachers contacted also spoke of constant staff shortage, with colleagues taking medical leave regularly.

'It got to a point where I was running from the kindergarten to nursery to infant classes,' said Ms Lynette Khoo, 29. She also had to spend time after work to prepare lessons and tidy up the school.

The teachers feel that they should be given opportunities to upgrade their skills and knowledge.

Only 55 per cent of the 7,500 preschool teachers have at least a diploma and a pass in English.

To raise standards, industry entrants from next year will need five O-level passes, instead of three now, and a diploma. The length of the course will be doubled from 18 months to three years.

Dr Christine Chen, president of the Association for Early Childhood Educators (Singapore), said that previously, preschool education was pursued by 'anyone who loves children' because there were no entry qualifications.

That was a reason the pay was low, she said. 'But if we set higher requirements in teacher education and professional standards, salaries will improve accordingly.'

Agreeing, Cherrybrook Kindergarten supervisor Monica Lim said: 'Parents don't quite appreciate preschool education yet. But if you want quality, you have to pay for it.'

Ms Ratty's view is that the pay structure has to improve. In her five years of service, she received little or no bonus and her employer upped her pay by only $50 when she received her degree.

Many colleagues have moved on to new jobs that 'pay better and are less of a hassle'.

Mrs Eileen Hee, general manager of Just Kids Learning Place, said younger teachers usually do not stay more than a year.

'It's different from what they had expected and they can't accept having to clean up after the kids,' she said. Most of her longer-service teachers are mothers in their late 30s and early 40s.

Preschool teachers have another wish: assistants to help out so they can focus more on lessons.

Others said the schools should operate the way primary schools do, so as to command due respect and appropriate benefits.

'We are educators, not babysitters. The public needs to see us as professionals who lay the foundation for young minds,' said teacher Val Ho.