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Pre-school Education

MOE Scholarship/MOE Teaching Award for the Master of Education (Early Childhood)

Since 2008, MOE has introduced awards to support eligible kindergartens in their efforts to raise the educational qualification of their teachers and principals.

We are pleased to inform you that the MOE Scholarship/MOE Teaching Award for the Master of Education (Early Childhood), conducted by NIE, is now open for application for the August 2012 intake.

Eligible kindergartens may apply here.

Singapore Pre-School Accreditation Framework

The Singapore Pre-school Accreditation Framework (SPARK) is a quality assurance framework introduced by the Ministry of Education to raise the quality of pre-schools in Singapore. All kindergartens and child care centres may apply for SPARK assessment and certification.

Good Practice Award for Kindergartens 2012

The Good Practice Award for Kindergartens serves to support kindergartens in recognising teachers and principals who have made significant contributions to their centres.

Kindergartens are ‘schools’ that provide a structured 3-year pre-school education programme for children aged 4 to 61. The 3-year programme consists of Nursery, Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2. Kindergartens function daily, five days a week, with schooling hours ranging from 3 hours to 4 hours each day. Most kindergartens function at least two sessions a day.

The daily programme of each level includes learning activities that develop language and literacy skills, basic number concepts, social skills, creative and problem solving skills, appreciation of music and movement and outdoor play. Children will learn in two languages, English as the first language and Chinese, Malay or Tamil as a Mother Tongue language.

Kindergartens, except for foreign system kindergartens, follow the school year observed by schools in the formal education system. The school year consists of four 10-week terms beginning on 2 January each year. There is a one-week vacation after the first and third term, a 4-week vacation mid-year and 6 weeks at year end.

Kindergartens conduct their own pupil enrolment/ registration exercises as early as March each year for admission to programmes in the following year. Parents will need to contact the respective registered kindergartens directly for further information on admission.

Kindergartens in Singapore are run by the private sector, including community foundations, religious bodies, social organisations and business organisations. Under the Education Act (1985 Edition), kindergartens are defined as private schools that have to be registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE). There are foreign system kindergartens and foreign system / international schools that offer kindergarten programmes for children of expatriate parents.

Child care centres also offer kindergarten programmes to children aged 3 to 6. Kindergartens are registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE) while child care centres are licensed by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS).

  1. The year the child turns 4 years old to the year the child turns 6 years old except those born on 1 Jan. ↵

Desired Outcomes of Pre-school Education

At the end of pre-school education, children will:

Contact

For enquiries or feedback, please email us at moe_peb@moe.gov.sg.