Early Childhood Educators In S’pore Express Concern About High Workload, Seek Fair Solution To Issue

Burnt-Out Early Childhood Educators Ask Authorities To Review Workload

Early childhood educators play fundamental roles and guiding and nurturing children from a young age.

However, what many do not see is the sheer workload some of these teachers shoulder behind the lessons they conduct.

Recently, a group of teachers wrote to Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA).

Through an email, they urged ECDA to review the workload of early childhood educators in Singapore.

In support of the teachers, a former educator highlighted the improvements needed to improve the quality of early childhood education through a TikTok video.

@hummyali98clearly aku ready to fight♬ original sound – humz

Early childhood educators urge ECDA to consider teachers’ workload

Recently, a group of teachers wrote to ECDA regarding the workload that teachers in early childhood education have to deal with.

A copy of their email was posted on Instagram page @planb.sg.

In their letter, the educators expressed their concerns with regard to their high workload.

This was driven by the change in the curriculum guide, accompanied by insufficient time to complete tasks during working hours.

They also cited the lack of work-life balance they had, breaking down the time needed to fulfil various tasks needed to prepare the learning environment for their students.

In the latter part of their letter, the educators also brought up their concerns regarding the well-being of staff and mentorship of new staff.

They added that their letter was by no means a complaint, but rather an attempt to raise their concerns, and “seek a fair and just solution”.

Former educator resonates with claims, says more parental collaboration needed

Following the Instagram post, a former early childhood educator took to her personal TikTok page (@hummyali98) to share her take on the situation.

The OP, who recently quit her job in the early childhood education industry after five years, highlighted that in order to improve the quality of the early years’ experiences of children, teachers are being overworked.

This is especially after the implementation of the Singapore Pre-school Accreditation Framework (SPARK), which has been in place since 2011.

This is because teachers have to try to meet these requirements at the expense of their personal life.

OP stressed that the solution to this problem was increased parental collaboration — something that most parents could not do due to their own work commitments.

She noted that a collective push for the government to support parents was necessary to increase the standard of education. After all, if parents could support teachers, educators could in turn better focus on providing quality education.

She added,

The answer is not SPARKS. The answer is investing in our parents and our teachers, who can then invest in our children.

In response to MS News‘ queries, the OP shared that she made the TikTok video as she resonated with the claims in the Instagram post.

The OP also revealed that she quit being a preschool teacher because she could no longer give her best to the role. She added that being burnt out limited her emotional capacity in nurturing a child.

Early childhood educators struggle to achieve work-life balance

The SPARK framework sets a standard for educators, ensuring that a child’s preschool education is optimised. Under this accreditation, a child will receive holistic education and develop the right attitude for lifelong learning.

Nevertheless, the OP told MS News that while the framework sounded amazing on paper, it painted a less flowery picture in real life.

Due to manpower crunches, teachers often seemingly have to choose between finding time outside of work or attempting to multi-task at work. This is a tall order considering how teachers have to be physically present to ensure the safety of children.

She noted,

The teachers who choose their personal life never get their work done, and the teacher who chooses their work never have time for their personal life.

The OP found this especially heartbreaking for ex-colleagues who had children of their own. Although they worked to take care of others’ children, they did not have time for their own.

She added that having to choose one’s job over their child seems to be a problem that happens with most working parents.

Fellow teachers echo sentiments, air their grievances on issue

In the comments section of OP’s TikTok video, fellow educators and parents shared their two cents on the situation.

One parent empathised with the teachers and shared that they too wish to have a more active role in their child’s life.

Another former early childhood educator shared that she also left the industry because of how challenging it was to cope with her own family and the demands of work.

One teacher who is also a parent echoed these sentiments. They confessed that they felt exhausted from the amount of time they put into work and preparing for work.

Hopefully, more support will be given to early childhood educators before more of them become burnt out from the workload.

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Featured image adapted from @hummyali98 on TikTok.