SEGi Group of College’s Early Childhood Education partner from Finland’s HEI Schools’ spokesperson, Heikki Vartia, recently visited SEGi College Sarawak to give a talk on Finland’s early-years curriculum and its focus on play as a teaching method.
HEI Schools emphasises play as a major method of teaching. Finland has been ranked first in the world in Early Years Education for two consecutive years, and is also ranked first as the happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report. Mr Vartia said that young children learn best when they are happy, and that they should be protected from stress. Fun, vibrant and active teaching strategies are most effective for children between one to six years old, and this has been proven in research studies conducted in the University of Helsinki and HEI Schools.
SEGi Group of Colleges incorporates the content of the HEI Schools Teacher Certificate programme in its Diploma in Early Childhood Education (DECE) programme across four college campuses in Kuala Lumpur, Subang Jaya, Sarawak and Penang. Apart from SEGi College’s certification, the HEI Schools Teacher Certificate are optional and good value for current educators and even students who wish to have an extra Certificate from Finland.
Various principals and early childhood educators around in Kuching attended the talk.
