Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said in Parliament on Tuesday that the new 10-month Advanced Diploma in Kindergarten-Teaching (Adket) developed by Singapore Polytechnic will provide 'much needed teachers to raise the quality of pre-school education.'

Targeted at mid-career entrants and fresh graduates, the new course, which starts in April, focuses on curriculum knowledge and teaching methods. It can be completed in about half the period of time of most full-time early childhood education diplomas at the polytechnics.

The introduction of the new course is in line with the Government's efforts in recent years to boost birth rates by making childcare centres and kindergartens accessible and improving quality of pre-school education.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced last year that from January, all new pre-school teachers must have at least five O-level passes, including a credit in English, and a diploma in Pre-school Education Teaching. The diploma must be obtained within four years of joining the pre-school sector.

From 2013, teachers of kindergarten 1 and 2 classes must have at least a pass in O-level English or an English proficiency test and a diploma.

But two MPs - Ms Josephine Teo and Dr Maliki Osman - pointed out on Tuesday that much work still has to be done.

Ms Teo (MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) said she noticed the 'vast difference in the scale and depth of efforts' in improving the primary education teaching force as compared to preschool teachers.

'When can we do the same for early childhood education?' she asked.

Ms Teo also said that there should be a mechanism to help parents assess the quality of education at pre-schools.

Dr Maliki Osman (MP for Sembawang GRC) said there is a 'critical need' for quality and trained personnel at preschools and asked how is MOE planning to achieve this.

In response to their questions, Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Parliamentary Secretary of the Education Ministry, said the ministry will introduce a slew of initiatives to raise the bar in pre-school education.

The polytechnics will also offer more courses in early childhood education. Besides the new advanced diploma in kindergarten education, Ngee Ann Polytechnic will introduce a new Diploma in Child Psychology and Early Education (CPEE) in April, with a planned intake of 80 students.