On 19 March 2022 9am, Carolyn Choo, Head of Academic Affairs and previous head of the Faculty of Education, attended the 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Early Childhood Care and Education Council (ECCE Council) where she presented the Annual Report of the organisation as the honorary secretary. One of the items raised in the AGM was the successful SEGi Group of Colleges-Whytehouse Early Years lecture series which has been supported by the Council.
The lecture series has received outstanding reception since its inception. For example, the first lecture, Learning with Nature, featuring Dr Rachel Larimore with Dr Irene Leow Kim Choo (0040) as moderator on 24 September 2021 has reached almost 6,000 individuals.
At the AGM, it was also reported that 75.86% of the teachers in the kindergartens under the Government agencies (MoE, KEMAS and JPNIN) had at least a Diploma in Early Childhood (DECE), while 73% of the private preschool teachers were still without the minimum DECE qualification (17,159 out of the 23,436 private preschool teachers). These were figures as of 31 January 2022. SEGi is pleased to report that since Oct 2016, we have supporting the Government’s initiative on DECE as the minimum qualification for kindergarten teachers. We have so far trained well over 500 in-service teachers through our DECE programme, offering them fees and flexibility in the mode of study.
SEGi College Subang Jaya early childhood lecturers are all members of the ECCE Council, and Carolyn Choo has been on the executive committee since its inception in 2011. Student membership is also actively promoted during our DECE course on ECCE professionalism. SEGi’s active participation in the Council allows us to stay updated on changes in policies governing early childhood care and education and concerns from the industry. This keeps our syllabus current and relevant at all times. In addition, as the Council serves as a link between the industry and the government, our involvement in the Council also allows us to have a voice in the direction of how we move forward in ECCE.
